VIDEO: Meath mobilises to assist the people of Ukraine in their hour of need

The Meath response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been phenomenal, with an amazing reaction to various collections for the war torn country in the last few days.

As communities rally to help the Ukrainian people, a Polish -Ukrainian woman who lives in Navan said she has been overwhelmed with the generous response she received to her plea for aid.

Justyna Boland's appeal will see more than 400 cartons of goods including medical supplies, personal care items, children's nappies, food and clothing items leaving Navan today (Tuesday) for Poland.

Justyna has been in touch with a Polish politician from Cracow, Artur Buszek, who has given her a list of the items that are badly needed.

He will ensure the goods are transported and distributed in the areas where they are most needed.

"I have also been in touch with Paulina Florczyk from FloTrans International EU, which is a Polish courier company. Paulina has organized to transport the goods free of charge and has also mobilized another seven Polish courier companies to help. They will deliver items from Ireland to Cracow to be distributed to border cities and straight to Ukraine.

Justyna had originally been accepting good at her home in Navan, not realising how generous the response would be.

“Very quickly, I had no more room, so Cllr Eddie Fennessy arranged for me to use the Civil Defence premises to collect and sort the goods,” she explains.

Justyna explains that although she grew up in Poland, her mother is Ukrainian and she spent two and a half months every summer with her relatives in Ukraine.

"My mothers family and my childhood friends are in Ukraine and we have been destroyed by what is happening. I decided to do something to help rather than sit around worrying."

"I have done this to help the people of Ukraine, but also to deal with my own emotions,”she said.

Justyna said the response has been tremendous. “I have had so many donations from Irish and Polish people and lot of others nationalities including people from India.

"The Commons Road Pharmacy has donated medical supplies.

"Sandy's creche in Dunshaughlin and the local primary school as well as Daoine Oige have organised collections for me.

"I want to thank everyone who donated and also Meath Civil Defence, Meath River Rescue and Cllr Eddie Fennessy," she said.

Cllr Fennessy paid tribute to Justyna and her volunteers.

“They deserve huge praise for what they achieved over the past week. The collection and the generosity shown by the people of Meath and surrounding counties has been incredible. Meath County Council's Martin Murray and Shane Quinn of the Civil Defence also deserve a mention for arranging storage facilities and support. It was a mighty effort from all involved and will be deeply appreciated by the Ukrainian families who benefit from it," he said.

Renata Box, a Polish woman who lives in Trim is collecting supplies that will be delivered to Tuchow in Southern Poland, where refugees are arriving from Ukraine.

They also intend send aid into Ukraine itself for the people who are stuck there, or who have chosen to remain.

Renata stressed that she is not collecting money but if somebody wants to make a financial contribution they can do so, through the Caritas website.

"Caritas are doing a lot of work in Poland for Ukraine,"she said.

Renata has asked for any couriers who are willing to help transport goods from Navan or Trim to Dublin for onward transport to Poland and Ukraine to get in touch and is also looking for trucks willing to transport good to Poland.

"We have a lot of delivery companies helping us for free at the moment, but we may need more," she said.

Anyone wishing to donate goods or help with transport should contact Renate at 0863374906.

Anna Stojek in Laytown is part of a wider group, formed in Cavan collecting supplies for the people of Ukraine.

"We will be sending the supplies to the Red Cross to get the supplies into Ukraine as they will be allowed to cross the border," she explains.

Anna's home is a drop off point for goods and anyone wishing to donate can contact her on her Facebook Page, Anna Stojek.

The Kingscourt Traders and local Polish community in conjunction with Dorota Gwizdz and Jakub Jancewicz were collecting items which will be shipped directly to Poland a the weekend.

As the medieval castle in Trim was illuminated in the yellow and blue of Ukraine, the local parish launched an appeal to help refugees fleeing to Poland and Ukraine.

Trim parish is linking up with Archbishop Pennacchio (Papal Nuncio to Poland) and Archbishop Maury (Papal Nuncio to Romania), both of whom are directly involved in helping the local dioceses and parishes to respond to the practical needs of refugees from Ukraine.

The Archbishops asked Fr Paul Crosbie if the parish of Trim can help parishes in Poland and Romania where women and children are being accommodated in parishes, schools, convents and monasteries.

Archbishop Pennacchio told Trim's local priest that he visited one border parish on Saturday where volunteers set up a shelter to distribute to food, clothing and medicine. "Please ask your parishioners to help us do whatever we can for these people" the Archbishop said. "We cannot wait around while this situation is deteriorating and we cannot do it alone". Fr Crosbie said: "All donations received by Trim parish will be sent immediately and directly to the Nuncios in Poland and Romania. There's no administrative costs. Everything goes directly where it's needed. “This is a Christian outreach for Lent - one parish reaching out to other parishes doing God's work" The Round Towers GFC in Kells held a collection at Eureka House on Saturday and were stunned by the response.

“It is going to take us about three days to sort out all the stuff we collected,” says event organiser, Davy McMahon.

“People were very generous. We were given everything from dog and cat food to hand-knitted bootees for babies.

“One little girl whose parents came with a donation, donated her own 25c and some crayons. It was very touching. “Aldi in Kells also donated 1,000,” he said.

He explained that some people donated perishable food, which couldn't be sent to the refugees and this was instead donated to Meath Women's Refuge.