At the beginning of May, 20 tonnes of food and hygiene products were neatly lined up ready to be loaded onto two articulated lorries. The destination of the relief supplies: Ukraine. The transport was organised by "Saving an Angel", an aid organisation founded by Rea Garvey and supported by other artists.
Nappies, wet wipes, tinned food, ready meals, instant noodles and other long-life items made the 1,500-kilometre journey from the REWE Kolo warehouse in Cologne-Langel to the war-torn country. "The delivery is primarily intended to make life a little easier for children there," said Julian Paramonti from Category Management at REWE West, who coordinated the logistics.
Karolina Fleischer, Andreas Justus (from left) and Jessica Glowacki (far right) from REWE West Logistics with the Ukrainian lorry drivers Igor Frolov and Valeri Sitnik (2nd and 3rd from left) Photos: Achim Bachhausen
Active in Ukraine since 2018
"Saving an Angel" aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged children. Since its establishment in 2001, the foundation has collected and distributed funds to partner organisations and projects. The foundation provides support exactly where money is needed to help children in need. "Saving an Angel" does not focus on a single project, but endeavours to be active worldwide. The founder is the musician Rea Garvey, who has become famous as the frontman of the band "Reamonn" and as a coach on the TV show "The Voice Of Germany" in addition to his solo project. The foundation has also been active in eastern Ukraine since 2018. With the "Unhide" project, "Saving an Angel" is working with Arthelps to help children and young people who are not seen or recognised by society. "Unhide" gives them a voice and a platform to discover their strengths and visualise their dreams, hopes and needs in a creative way. The long-term goal is to work with local partners to establish safe spaces - safe meeting places for children and young people. There they receive lessons in English, music and creativity, are catered for and supervised by trauma therapists.
Aid for Ukraine and for refugees from Ukraine is needed more urgently every day. Within REWE Group, numerous employees are helping to collect donations and organise aid transports(one reported).
In Austria, in addition to the appeal for donations for the Red Cross, direct contacts were also made with Caritas and the Ukrainian Embassy, among others, in order to organise professional help quickly and respond to the requests, especially for hygiene items and children's food. REWE Group employees in Austria have already donated over 21,000 euros to the Red Cross. The "Neighbour in Need" donation campaign was launched in the Billa and Bipa stores, where Ukraine donation hearts can be purchased for five euros. PENNY also collected around 36,000 euros in donations. In this way, donations totalling over 100,000 euros have already been collected. REWE Group in Austria also donated pallets of relief supplies to the Samaritans, Volkshilfe, the Austrian Trade Union Federation and the arrival centre in Vienna.
The independent Adeg retailers also helped quickly and easily by organising donations and aid transports with their local communities and aid organisations: retailer Alexander Haas, for example, coordinated a food donation transport to the Ukrainian border together with employees and the Lower Austrian community of Kottingbrunn. Adeg merchant Binder coordinated the donation of long-life food and tinned food from his customers in cooperation with the municipality. Adeg Fischer in Ernsthofen also took part in a community initiative and collected food donations. Shopkeeper Bastian Stumvoll is involved in an initiative in which customers can purchase Adeg vouchers to benefit refugees from Ukraine. Adeg Kaubek called for donations to the Red Cross via Facebook. Collection points for donations in kind were set up in the Nánási family's markets and at Adeg Atan, which will be transported to the Ukrainian border in cooperation with aid organisations.
Adeg Seba in Ardagger Markt in Lower Austria is also committed to helping refugees. In cooperation with the Albanienhilfe Ardagger working group, vital parcels are collected for people in need in Ukraine.
The Schmutterer family in Reisenberg organised donations of goods worth over 6,000 euros in collaboration with the municipality, fire brigade and Caritas, which were delivered to children's homes in Ukraine, among other places.
More on the topic of Ukraine aid: employees collect and donate for Ukraine.
