Due to the increasingly frequent rocket attacks, interruptions in public utility services, and the approach of the winter months, more and more people are leaving Eastern Ukraine, which also poses a new challenge for aid organizations. At the same time, the charitable organizations that spoke to our newspaper are prepared, so whether it is about regular humanitarian donations, housing refugees or providing care for the people of eastern Ukraine, they support those affected by the war in every possible way.
The number of refugees has increased significantly compared to the summer period, typically three hundred to four hundred people arrive at the Záhony railway station per day - the Magyar Református Szeretszolgált (MRSZ), whose employees, as they have continuously since the outbreak of the war, are currently they help refugees near the border.
According to the information of the MRSZ, the vast majority of refugees leave Eastern Ukraine due to the attacks on the one hand, and the disruption of public utility services on the other hand, and travel on to Budapest or Western Europe. That is why it is a great help that Ukrainian-speaking volunteer interpreters of the charity service can provide refugees with the information they need (train departures, ticket purchases, other questions) on the spot. And if someone wants to stay for a longer period, for a few hours or even overnight, they will be provided with accommodation and the opportunity to clean themselves at the Help Desk maintained by the MRSZ, they will be provided with warm food and a donation of clothes, and they will be provided with a travel package for their onward journey.
According to their experience, refugees arriving in Záhony stay in the settlement for one night each, so there has not yet been a greater need for longer-term assistance. In Budapest, they have already contacted several congregations that can provide temporary accommodation during the winter months, even for a few months.
In addition, MRSZ continuously delivers donations to Transcarpathia, and in addition to humanitarian aid shipments, it also sends aggregators, lamps, mattresses and blankets to areas beyond the border. Meanwhile, every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the organization's donation point on Marek József Street hosts a donation distribution for refugees who have been in Hungary for a long time. The donation point of the MRSZ in Budapest is visited by two hundred to two hundred and fifty people on a weekly basis, who are provided with durable food and cleaning and hygiene products, the charity service detailed.
Similar to the reformed charity service, Katolicus Karitász also believes that in the winter crisis, as a result of rising energy prices and inflation, many more people will ask for help.
"Currently, we are in contact with 970 families, we provide them with vouchers for food and furniture purchases, a three-month rent subsidy, and utility contributions. During the summer - in several shifts - one hundred children vacationed in our camp in Balatonakali, and at the end of August and the beginning of September we also supported the enrollment of three hundred Ukrainian refugee children who are already starting the school year in Hungarian educational institutions.
In addition, in cooperation with the Hungarian Scout Association, we are starting free sessions in the morning for younger children and after school for older ones - listed the aid organization.
The Catholic Charity continuously provides donations to the refugees and the local Hungarians in Transcarpathia. As it was written, the refugees are helped with winter clothes, blankets and the purchase of generators in addition to the durable food delivered weekly through local charitable organizations, as the people there are already struggling with daily power outages.
With winter approaching, the Ecumenical Aid Organization is also supporting those affected by the war with great strength. The charitable organization operates institutions providing heated, temporary accommodation for refugees in several parts of the country, which on the one hand means rooms created in its own institutions, and on the other hand, rented accommodation, where the needy also receive food and hygiene packages. At the same time, the aid organization also pays special attention to the situation of internally displaced persons, so through several Ukrainian partner organizations it participates in the winterization of accommodations where internally displaced persons who lost their homes due to bomb attacks live.
Ecumenicals are also trying to create security of existence in Ukraine by means of multi-purpose cash assistance, thereby enabling freedom of choice, since the needy know best "where the shoe is tight". Beneficiaries of the MPCA cash assistance project (Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance Program) will receive three months' support at a time, a total of 6,600 hryvnias, according to the aid organization's website.
It is also worth highlighting the aid organization's Ukrainian Refugee Support Center (UMTK) in Budapest, where, in addition to tangible support, they support refugees who They want to settle in Hungary.
The integration services are provided by lawyers, interpreters, psychologists and social specialists, among others.
Source, full article and image: Magyar Nemzet
