“Send Hope to Moria” from southern Bavaria

Munich residents work together to support the people in Moria. Volt Europa's "Europe Cares" initiative is continuing successfully thanks to the great willingness to donate, the many helpers from Munich and the surrounding area and the support of Messe München.

It is autumn. Not only in Munich. It's raining on the Greek island of Lesbos too, and after the autumn rain it's getting cold there too, in southern Europe. Too cold to live without blankets or jackets in the burnt down refugee camps. Because after the fire in Camp Moria, there is a lack of everything there besides warming blankets.

Under the motto #EuropeCares, people all over Europe have come together to inform about the refugee camp on Lesvos and to collect donations. Also in Munich, Dachau, Brunnthal, Augsburg, Rosenheim and Traunstein small groups of volunteers are working to ensure that tents, jackets, canned food and much more find their way from Southern Bavaria to Lesbos. On Saturday (October 10, 2020) Volters at the Josephsplatz in Munich and in Traunstein informed about the current situation in Greece. Hundreds of people from Munich and Traunstein also came to hand in donations such as food, toiletries or toys and against the approaching winter clothes and temporary accommodation. In order to prepare all donations so that they arrive on Lesbos, they must be sifted, sorted, packed and labelled safely and in a dry place. However, after the first event at Munich Stachus in mid-September, #EuropeCares in Munich had already exhausted its space capacity. Without the support of Messe München, by providing a hall for #EuropeCares, the following collection could not have taken place.

Volunteers are expected to continue to stack and pack at the fair next weekend. According to the local project manager Sven Heinrici, about 3-4 truckloads of relief supplies from southern Bavaria alone, which have to be brought on their way to Greece before winter.

#EuropeCares is a sign of one of Volt's principles: no one should be left behind in our society. Everyone in Europe must be guaranteed equal rights and opportunities and human rights must be respected, applied and upheld!

About #EuropeCares

We are a group of volunteers brought together by the pan-European movement Volt Europa. In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were horrified by the inaction of European Member States in the face of the humanitarian crisis in the refugee camps on the Greek islands. We set about raising awareness, taking action and sending a message of European solidarity to the refugees. We are pan-European. We collect donations from all over Europe and coordinate with our country teams. We are 100% volunteers. There are no salaries or "administrative costs" - all donations are used to cover logistics or to collect additional relief supplies.

Everyone can contribute. The first batch of #EuropeCares' latest aid shipment, which includes 100,000 masks and 1,000 litres of hand sanitiser and thermometers, will be shipped this week. A further 200,000 masks as well as clothing, hygiene products and toys will be delivered to local partners such as Team Humanity in the coming weeks, while additional materials will be collected across Europe. Following the fire in Moria, the focus of the fundraising is on durable food, water, tents, mattresses and blankets.

Media contact: Eileen O’Sullivan eileen.osullivan@volteuropa.org
Tour coordination: Sven Damm sven.damm@volteuropa.org
Contact Volt Munich: Julia Amtmann julia.amtmann@volteuropa.org
Website: www.europeCares.org
Donations: www.europeCares.org/donate