Helping Ukraine! (current information)

Summary of the forms and extent of the aid given by Caritas of the Archdiocese of Lublin in connection with the war in Ukraine (20.10.2022 r.)

1. Estimated amount of financial support:
   • Refugees – approx. 10,244,556 PLN (of which 1,617,432,32 PLN from parish collections),
   • Ukraine – 185,000 PLN.
2. Estimated amount and type of aid:
   • 15,557 people received emergency aid from Caritas, some of them several times (food packages, hygiene and cosmetics packages, clothing, accessories).
   • 222 trucks and 151 shuttle buses drove to Ukraine. The estimated value of the gifts in kind and the fuel is PLN 23,822,000.
3. Arrangements for organising the aid:
   • Centre for Migrants and Refugees – House of Friendship: emergency aid (packages), hot meals, psychological help, legal advice, job placement, child protection, certified Polish courses, integration events, support in covering the costs of private crèches for children actively looking for work,
     organisation of humanitarian transport to Ukraine,
   • Coordination of a large warehouse that serves as an international hub where we receive gifts from international and Polish partners (including various Caritas) and from which transport to Ukraine (also in collaboration with Caritas Ukraina and Caritas-SPES Ukraine),
   • Accommodation support (House of Trust in Firlej (until the end of June), Dream House in Cesstoborowice (until the end of June), Retreat House in Prieżomierzy (still), meeting place in Dąbbrowica, House of Hope in Lublin and Specialist Centre for the Support of Victims of Domestic Violence in Lublin),
   • Operation of the Tent of Hope in Dorohusk (initially at both the border crossing point and the reception point in Dorohusk) – in operation since the end of February 2022. Currently in Formula 8:00 – 16:00 and until the end of June 24 hours a day,
   • Operation of the Tent of Hope at Chełm Railway Station (April to the end of June) on a round-the-clock system.
   • Maintenance of a database of individuals wishing to take in refugees at home (350 records),
   • More than 6,228 people have found accommodation in private flats through Caritas or the church community.
4. Caritas alone currently employs 7 refugees, and the most dynamic moment was more than 20.

 

13th of June 2022

Caritas Archidiecezji Lubelskiej reacting to the constant need for help for Ukrainian refugees, opened another outpost – The House of Friendship, on the 9th of June 2022. Archbishop Stanisław Budzik Metropolitan of Lublin, blessed the new building while quoting words from The book of Sirach: “Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter: whoever finds one has found a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price. no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;” (Sirach 6:14-17). That’s exactly how the polish-ukrainian relationship has looked for the past months,  that’s why this place couldn’t bear a different name than The House of Friendship. I’m happy Caritas will still help the Ukrainian refugees here. The Archbishop added.

-It wouldn’t have been possible, without the help of Lubelskie Voivodeship, which donated for our usage the building where the old Voivodeship Culture Centre was situated, on Dolnej Mari Panny street in Lublin. – said Father Paweł Tomaszewski Director of Caritas Archidiecezji Lubelskiej.
-Our headquarters, although they’re not  small, do not allow us to work on this scale. We were running short on room. Now the problem is solved.

The Marshal of the Lubelskie Voivodeship Mr. Zbigniew Wojciechowski. took part in the official opening. -Caritas proved not once, that it brings help to another human, it knows how to get to people in need, therefore we at the the board of the Lubelskie Voivodeship had no doubts, to donate this building to this exact organisation. We are very happy to know that it will serve, and that this way we as the Lubelskie Voivodeship can engage in helping our Ukrainian neighbours. Mr. Wojciechowski stressed.

 

In the House of Friendship Ukrainian Refugees can receive the following help: 

• Informational help, as well as help with finding accommodation
• Emergency assistance: food for takeout (in boxes), packages with household chemicals, products for children (jarred baby food, diapers, wet wipes, bottles etc.) 
• Psychological help (provided by qualified professionals from Ukraine)
• Law help (provided by a qualified lawyer from Ukraine)
• Job placement (provided by a qualified career counsellor from Ukraine)
• Childrens playroom

We are planning on opening polish courses as well.

The House of Friendship is the building of the old Voivodeship Culture Centre, located at Dolnej Mari Panny 3 Street in Lublin. Help is provided from monday to friday between 8am – 4pm, detailed information can be obtained under the following number: +48 451 168 798.

In addition:

• We are are constantly running the centres in: Firlej, Księżomierzy, Częstoborowicach, Krasieninie. (Currently 115 people reside in those.)
• 171 truck, 42 delivery vans drove into Ukraine with help worth around  14 000 000 zł.
• Our volunteers are at the border, 27 for 7. Regardless of weather. They are the first contact for refugees in need, they provide help by offering warm drinks, food, clothing for children as well as toys, basic hygiene items.
• We are also coordinating the transmission of food packages at the Chelm train station, We provide help for refugees on trains, as well as those deciding to get back to Ukraine.

 

May 13th, 2022

• We have taken care of nearly 400 people in our centres in Firlej, Księżomierz, Częstoborowice and Krasienin. 140 people living there currently.
• We sent 35 delivery buses and 145 trucks to Ukraine, each of them packed with 20 tons of gifts, making 2900 tons for a total value of about 11,600,000 PLN. Cities that we have reached with humanitarian aid are: Kharkiv, Lviv, Lutsk, Kiwerce, Równe, Chernigiv, Krasilov, Bucza, Worzel, Zhytomyr, Vinnica or Berdichów.
• We received 1,613,735.32 PLN from the collection of cans in the parishes, 622,497. 36 PLN from individuals, 590,000 PLN from Caritas Polska, 996,115 PLN from companies and institutions. In total we collected 3,822,347,68 PLN for the support of Ukraine.
• Pope Francis donated money through us to Caritas SPES Kharkiv. Thanks to this, we bought a passenger / delivery car – Citroen Jumpy, which will be used by priest Wojtek and his volunteers to reach the most needy people there.
• We run a crisis centre that worked 24 hours a day for refugees for the first month, providing assistance in finding shelter, a hot drink, a meal and necessary information. It is currently coordinating emergency aid in the form of food, cosmetics and hygiene packages and clothing, which has already benefited 8,952 refugees.
• Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have hired 52 employees, 10 of them from Ukraine.
• Our volunteers are present at the Dorohusk border crossing point and reception point 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of weather conditions. They are the first contact for refugees, providing them assistance in the form of warm drinks, food, toys for children or clothes, blankets.
• We coordinate the delivery of food and cosmetic packages at the train station in Chelm.
• We make it possible for refugees, host families, volunteers and Caritas staff to benefit from psychological support.
• We run two Polish language courses on a1 level and we are working on opening a language school.
• Our refugee office maintains a database of addresses where individuals or religious congregations, parishes have decided to host refugees. In total, it contains more than 340 addresses.
• We operate a storage at the headquarters at Unii Lubelskiej 15 street and a large warehouse at Mełgiewska 29 street in Lublin.
• We are working with NGOs from the United States and Italy to train our staff and volunteers psychologically to work with refugees, people who have experienced the realities of war.
• Every day in our jard we pray for world peace and for the victims of war.
• Together with the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin we run a friendly place for children, which is open from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

If you want help Ukrainians afflicted by the war, you are invited send supplies (*long-term food*, basic hygiene products, nursery supplies for bed-ridden, care products for infants and children, medical supplies, hospital equipment, power-banks and electricity generators, blankets, sleeping bags, clothes and shoes) to one of the biggest warehouse and transport hub on the border with Ukraine.

Address:
Caritas Lublin
ul. Prymasa S. Wyszyńskiego 2
20-950 Lublin
Poland
+ 48 81 532 95 71
lublin@caritas.pl

If you wish you can wire transfer money which will be used to buy food and supplies for Ukrainian people.

Here are details:
IBAN: PL 59 1240 1503 1787 0000 1752 8364
SWIFT/BIC: PKOPPLPW

As title of wire transfer please write “Food and goods for Ukrainian people”

WATCH SHORT MOVIE

April 11th, 2022

In the weekly report we want to mention that in the last few days we observe increased traffic on a border. Some refugees decide to come back to Ukraine but also a lot of people, especially from Donbas region come to Poland to look for a shelter. As a Caritas we need a huge support of volunteers (also international), because our Tent of Hope is running around the clock.  If you are brave and have time to help contact us by email(wolontariat.lublin@caritas.pl), calling +48 515 384 414, on our facebook or instagram. We are waiting for you!

Last week in our crisis point we supported 936 people, by giving them 7226 food, cloth, or hygienic packages.

From our warehouse at Melgiewska Street we could send 15 trucks to various parts of Ukraine. Thanks to cooperation with father Krzysztow Orlicki from Kiwerce and his team work with the rector of the seminary in Worzel, father Ruslan Mihalkiw we could send whole transport to citizens of Bucza, they also received  typical hospital supplies gifted by our friends from Furstenfeldbruck.

We invariably host refugees in our centers in Firlej, Ksiezomierz and Czestoborowice(171 people), in our Charity Center in Krasnystaw another 8 people found a safe place. In total, we look after 179 people on a permanent basis.

Thanks a lot! To people who are with us hand by hand. To volunteers from Poland and Ukraine, especially for those who are with us from the beginning. Without you we couldn’t afford half of the things we did. Also great thanks to our guests from abroad, which bring us freshens of mind, great involvement and a lot of inspiration.  This week especially to firemans from Portugal Fundao.

April 4th, 2022

We are slowing down. A popular movement that lasted over a month is slowly dying out. We know that this is a completely natural process, that this is simply what happens when the adrenaline subsides, when we become accustomed to a new reality. However, we are aware that as Caritas of the Lublin Archdiocese we will not be able to stop providing help to those who will need it.

In the storage when we are sorting donations and in the clothing sorting area, a group of more than 50 volunteers make sure that everything is properly divided, ready to be given to those in need each day.

Our crisis point tries to provide emergency assistance by including food, hygiene and cosmetic packages and clothing. So far, 6290 people have already benefited from this form of support (1126 people last week). To receive this assistance, refugees need to come Monday through Saturday between 9:30 am and 4:00 pm. There, our Ukrainian-speaking volunteers will help fill out the questionnaire and prepare the packages.

We are also asked for help by various organizations (including those operating in Ukraine or organizing humanitarian transports on their own), institutions caring for refugees (including those managed by the Lublin City Hall), or families taking in to their houses people from Ukraine.

We created three centers that became home to over 150 people – in Firlej, Księżomierzy and Częstoborowice. We provide them with round-the-clock care, we prepare meals together, we take care of the buildings, we give them Polish and English lessons, dance classes, the children have finally started going to school and kindergartens.

Our Tent of Hope at the border in Dorohusk is still running, very often its operation is driven by volunteers from abroad. Just last week we could count on support from Portugal, Germany, Colombia, Ireland, the United States, and Italy.

The space where the change is most evident is the number of humanitarian transports that reached our friends in Ukraine last week. Only (compared to at least last week) 8 trucks left our warehouses. And although it is still 160 tons of the most necessary things worth about 640 000 PLN, with a total value of 8 560 000 PLN, 2140 tons and 107 cars popularly called TIR, it is not difficult to notice the difference. However, we are aware that it is better to wait a day or two and gather enough food or medical supplies so that the driver can set off on the road fully loaded, and so we measure our strength against the needs, having much smaller quantities of the most necessary things. At the same time, we are very grateful that we continue to receive shipments from other European countries, and that there are companies or institutions that join us in this long-distance task of bringing aid.

If anyone else would like to join – we ask primarily for food.

March 28th, 2022

We are slowly losing track of time, days are passing, there’s some kind of adjustment to the current situation, and yet the people – refugees or those who’ve chosen to stay in Ukraine – still need our increased support as long as the war is taking place.

In the last 7 days alone, 2732 people (total of 5164 people) have received assistance at The Crisis Centre. Refugees can seek help there in form of food packages (once a week), toiletries (every two weeks) and clothes (once a month). At the Refugee Office, we also help find accommodation by connecting refugees with parishioners that have agreed to take refugees into their homes (in total, there are more than 300 addresses in our database). The Crisis Centre is currently open from Monday to Saturday from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM (contact number : +48 451 168 798), whereas the Refugee Office is open the entire week from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. (+48 781 084 233).

We are not slowing down when it comes to organizing humanitarian transports that reach many cities of Ukraine (Równy, Kiverech, Shytomyr, Kharkov, Luzk, Vinnitsa, Berdichov, Krasilov, Lviv and with smaller transports also to the vicinity of Kiev). Last week, the intense work of our logisticians and warehouse keepers, as well as the willingness of donors to donate, allowed us to send another 45 trucks – each of them loaded with over 20 tons of donations. In total, we sent 99 trucks to Ukraine with estimated worth of 7,920,000 PLN.

We are constantly present at the Polish-Ukrainian border in Dorohusk and at the reception point there. Our volunteers are available all the time to provide first aid to people coming to Poland if needed.

 

March 21st, 2022

Since the war is being waged in the Ukraine,  we at Caritas of Lublin Archidiecezja are still on duty.

There have been 59 trucks with humanitarian aid already departed from our site, each fully loaded with aprox. 20 tons of goods – we are satisfied all the more that we have managed to establish a transport channel to the eastern part of the Ukraine (Kharkiv) recently.

At our 24/7 Crisis Intervention Centre almost 2500 (2432) refugees have already got emergency assistance: we helped them with finding accommodation and delivered food, personal and home hygiene items as well as clothes.

We have been taking care of the  refugees in a Refugees Centres in Firlej (75 persons) and Księżomierz (54) and we are ready to host children from Ukrainian orphanages in Częstoborowice (40).

Volunteers at our Tent of Hope in Dorohusk accompany the refugees from the their very first moments on the Polish ground offering emergency assistance, providing food, hot drinks, water, clothes or blankets – whatever is needed. They work on 24/7 basis.

Last week we acquired two cars. The first was donated by the Lubelska Izba Rolnicza, the second – by a group of volunteers from the Netherlands. Thanks to generosity of our donators will be able to help in even more effective way, reaching more locations where our support is required.

We’d like to thank to all of our donators that continuously providing us with in-kind and financial assistance. We are happy that among people who support Caritas are not only Polish institutions and companies but we can also count on support from abroad. Help is coming from Germany, Italy, the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and they all support us in many ways expressing unity.

And last but not least – a message to our volunteers: Thank you very much you need! It takes your  passion and commitment that make our work effective. We are  happy that we can count on international support also here.

March 14th, 2022

Another 7 days have passed, full of tension, hard work and many challenges. A lot of refugees still regularly arrive in Poland and the situation in Ukraine doesn’t get better. So as Caritas Archidiecezji Lubelskiej we cannot let yourself to lost focus.

For last week we sent 22 trucks and 2 buses filled with humanitarian transport, which through our friends abroad are delivered to the needy in many different corners of the north of Ukraine. Total from our headquarters we released 50 trucks and 27 buses which gave about 1040 tons of goods.

At our crisis point, which is still open around the clock, our volunteers(speaking both Ukrainian and Polish) are waiting for Ukrainian families and Polish host people, which we give emergency assistance- food, hygiene items, clothes and toys. Just in the last few days 1079 people benefited from the help(about 200 people per day).

Our tireless volunteers are on duty 24/7 in the Tent of Hope in Dorohusk.

Furthermore on Friday 11th March in an ambulance filled with medicines donated by firefighters from OSP Jawiszowice was handed over to the parish Kiwerce.

Every day we use the help of more than 120 volunteers, which support us in unpacking and packing, sorting goods or maintenance of crisis point.

March 7th, 2022

War in Ukraine  lasts and its consequences are felt by all of us, especially by people who had to leave their homeland, houses, husbands, sons or fathers, but also by Polish people, who put maximum effort in helping. As Caritas Archidiecezji Lubelskiej since over a week we work around a clock.

We try our best to provide our help in two ways. In one way we secure the needs of refugees, who are looking for a safe place in Poland, on the other hand we try to support those who are still in Ukraine. Currently we focus international help on particular Ukrainian cities: Lutsk, Kiverce, Rowne, Żytomyr, Lviv. Humanitarian transports go there. They are often repackaged to smaller vehicles to minimize risks of capturing them by the Russian army. So far we send 21 truckers to Ukraina, every one of them transporting about 20 tons of products. We  also try to keep in touch with priests who are working in Ukrainian parishes and if possible support them financially. Just today we acquired 6 hundred loafs of bread from local bakeries(Thank you so much!), which we will tomorrow send abroad, because we receive information that people are missing the taste of bread…

In the diocese we are currently running:

• Crisis point, dedicated for refugees, but also to institutions and families who ensure war refugees protection and care. We can offer them emergency assistance(clothes, food, cleaning products, cosmetics) . We take care of about 669 people for now.
• Tent of Hope in Dorohusk, which is open around the clock and ensures first contact help after crossing Polish-Ukrainian border.  We provide food, hot drinks, water and clothes. Whole staff of this place are Caritas Volunteers.
• Refuge in our center in Firlej(currently 50 people’s living there ). We cooperate with the Firlej Community, together we take care to properly feed groups staying in refuge. Our youngest guest is 3 months old.
• Muster points in our headquarters on Unii Lubelskiej 15, but also in Center for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin, Plac Teatralny 1 street, on Decathlon car park, Spoldzielczosci Pracy 26 street and in Carrefour, Witosa 6 street
• Database of people and institutions offering people shelter

Furthermore:

• We patrol Lublin Main Bus station in the evening. If any of the arriving refugees have no place to go, we offer him accommodation in our headquarter and next day we are helping him to find long term accommodation.
•  We cooperate with many foreign institutions, communities, companies, who organize collection of gifts and also financial collections as a sign of solidarity with Ukrainian nation
• We report to the whole world about the situation and how they could help. It’s all thanks to the cooperation with journalists from Germany, Great Britain, Estonia, France and Norway
• We sort tons of clothes, food, dressings, medical stuff or even toys, which we received thanks to the involvement of the local community
• everyday we host about 80 volunteers, who help us  disinterestedly, often till night hours
• We try our best to advise, support,  dispel doubts and encourage to help us every people of good will