Even the most seasoned volunteers had never seen this. In Charente-Maritime, as everywhere in France, the Civil Protection, in charge of the logistics of a majority of collections, was overwhelmed with donations, and this in a handful of days. In the department, the hangar of the Parc des Expositions de La Rochelle, a gathering center, is full. And again, the first trucks came to pick up the priority products during the week. Faced with this influx, the association therefore asks all municipalities to stop collections. This will make it possible to take care of all sorting, centralizing, before routing.
Everything will go directly to Strasbourg, the regional center of Bordeaux is saturated
In the Rochelais shed, pallets of blankets spread out over an entire room. “There are at least 70”, launches a passing volunteer. And on each pallet, there are dozens of folded and stacked blankets. Out of this appendix, other pallets, which here has become a real unit of measurementwaiting to leave. “We have already made 69 leaveremembers Maxime Ducoroy, the vice-president of the association of rescuers in Charente-Maritime. Medicines, rescue, a large part of hygiene, everything that is primary on the spot.”
Multiply everything we have there in each French department, then in each country. All these needs are currently covered
– Lise Dussault
There are still the blankets and then everything that happens every day from other municipalities. “This weekend, we should have reached 230 ready pallets, after just over a week of opening”advocated the vice-president on Saturday. Heavyweights must therefore arrive during the next week to relieve the warehouse in La Rochelle. Direction Strasbourg directly, the national centralization point, “because in Bordeaux, our regional point, they are saturated”reveals Maxime Ducoroy again.
Need for heavy medical equipment, such as hospital beds
For these reasons, the Civil Protection asked all their partner municipalities, which organized collections, to stop them. “Multiply everything we have there in each French department, then in each countrypicture Maxime Ducoroy. Currently, all these needs are covered, there is enough. There would be no point in continuing to collect”. Even if, he admits it, the proposal for donations remains continuous since these collections were set up.
Especially since in Ukraine, needs are changing. “We will gradually modify our supportsays the volunteer. Now, on the spot, they basically need large medical equipment, _what individuals are not able to give_. We therefore offer to anyone who requests us, who wishes to help, financial donations. This money will be used to buy hospital beds, enough to set up makeshift hospitals. This will also help us for all the routing.” The association does not refrain from reopening collections in the more or less near future, depending on the needs and the situation in Ukraine.