More than £40,000 worth of aid has been delivered to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees following a significant community effort in the Ardboe area in recent weeks.
Co Tyrone haulage firm Devlin Haulage was able to fill three lorries of food and other vital supplies to be driven to the Polish border with Ukraine.
Nigel Devlin and crew arrived in Warsaw this week with the three truckloads, with Henrik from a group of Christian charities in the region gratefully receiving the items which will go towards those affected by the Russian invasion of the country.
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“Yesterday we tipped the three trailers, two of them went onto other lorries and straight into Ukraine to the people that need it,” Nigel said.
“The third trailer went into a warehouse where Henrik sorts it out into vans to go into Ukraine as well.
“Today Henrik took us to one of the camps in Warsaw here that he runs along with a lot of people here, and it’s just heart wrenching what’s happening.”
“We received 41 lorries from Northern Ireland and all the aid that was in them went to Ukraine,” Henrik said.
“I run this Christian charity here, we have been doing a lot of Christian camps here but now they’ve all turned into refugee camps.
“The charities in Poland have now become shelters, there are mattresses and beds everywhere."
Nigel added that the support from local GAA clubs Ardboe and Moortown as well as everyone in the local community had been 'overwhelming'.
"On behalf of everyone involved with the Loughshore to Warsaw project we would like to send a massive thank you to everyone for showing your support.
"In a period of three short weeks we have managed to do something absolutely overwhelming, three 40 foot containers filled with food and essentials to ease the suffering of the people of Ukraine.
None of this would have been possible without the backing of the local football clubs (Ardboe and Moortown), local businesses and the local community.
"From donations to the go fund me to hand knitted cardigans, everything will make a huge difference to people who have had their lives flipped upside in the last couple of months."
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