The Romanian Aid Foundation & Asociatia Neemia

The packing session on 5^th December concludes our packing activities at Horley for this year; we will be resuming on Friday 16^th January, then on the first and third Fridays of February.

We have had a successful year, both in Horley and in south Wales, and we want to thank all those who have brought us items that we can forward to Romania.

As part of our affiliation with a Romanian food bank we are able to receive stocks of food and other household goods that have short validity dates or are surplus to required stock levels. Each evening we attend two local supermarkets to collect each day’s items, which are then donated to needy households the next day. A typical collection will include bread, fruit, vegetables, dairy products and frozen meat. A recent surprise was nearly 100 chocolate croissants, released due to a change of packaging.

In addition to the daily collections, the people we help will be benefiting from a pre-Christmas food appeal at two supermarkets in Dorohoi and one supermarket in Darabani. The appeals are conducted in co-operation with the Centre of Hope in Dorohoi whose clients also benefit from the donations. The produce received has been purchased and donated by the customers of the respective supermarkets and previous collections have demonstrated their generosity.

There have been further positive moves in respect to the future of the land surrounding our warehouse at Dealu Mare. The shared access is a complication due to shared ownerships but there is goodwill on the part of the neighbour and the local council officers, and we anticipate further, albeit slow, progress.

During the past month we have been able to bring a special happiness to a number of people: an amputee has received an electric chair, a wounded veteran from the Ukraine war is receiving therapy and the children at Casa Neemia are joyfully anticipating Christmas.

This Month’s Featured Photos

Supermarket surplus: An evening’s collection … Marcel helps with the donations … A variety of items

Happy people: A gift of mobility … A wounded soldier … Anticipating Christmas

This Month’s Prayer Notes

..
Link to this month’s Prayer Notes

Each year the change of the seasons results in what might be called an inverse effect on the clothes that we receive – summer clothing arrives during the colder months and warmer clothing comes at the beginning of summer. Nevertheless, we are grateful for good quality items which we can store and share with those in need when it is appropriate. As an exception to that trend we have recently received a quantity of warm jackets which we will be sending to Romania as soon as possible.

Not all our donors are in the UK; our status as a registered charity means that we can also receive clothing and other items from local sources in Romania and distribute them on their behalf. During September we received a small batch of computer monitors and peripherals which will be passed on to families with students.

Our warehouse near Dorohoi has a total floorspace of approximately 400 sq metres on two levels. There have been times when we have used it to full capacity and even spilt over into the trailer alongside. However, our current aid operations are much more focussed and there would be benefits from down-sizing our storage space.

When we bought the premises in 1998 we also acquired the adjacent field, some 7,900 sq metres, which we have used each year for crops such as sunflowers and maize. Part of this field is now being used by a Ukrainian family to grow watermelons and marrows. In addition there is a small orchard at the front of the warehouse which produces a variety of fruits in season, and which are used at Casa Neemia or donated to people calling at the office.

We are now considering our options for smaller premises. We still need to store winter items that arrive in the summer, and vice versa, but lower costs would allow more help to be offered elsewhere.

This Month’s Featured Photos

The warehouse: The western elevation … …

From the warehouse grounds: Water-melons and marrows … Abundant apples … Optimistic sunflowers

Miscellaneous items: Monitors for students … Blankets for pre-schoolers …

Last Month’s Statistics

Awaiting preparation

This Month’s Prayer Notes

..
Link to this month’s Prayer Notes