The willingness of the people of Carinthia to help after the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria is great – the most efficient form of aid is a monetary donation. Martin Pirz, chairman of the Red Cross of Carinthia, explains why this is so.
“We would like to thank you for your willingness to help. Unfortunately, we are currently unable to accept donations in kind such as clothing, blankets or medicines and transport them to Syria or Turkey. There are several reasons for this, because the purchase, transport and distribution of relief supplies under difficult circumstances requires careful planning and many employees,” explains Martin Pirz, President of the Carinthian Red Cross.
Emergency responders respond flexibly to the need
Firstly, the Red Cross takes into account the needs of the affected population. Are blankets, medical supplies or hygiene products needed? “Our colleagues on site continuously document exactly what is needed and report the need. This way we can specifically finance the necessary relief supplies. In the best case, relief supplies are also available in disaster prevention camps in the region and only the transport needs to be organized and paid for,” continues Martin Pirz.
The quantities of goods purchased through the Red Cross and the Red Crescent in crisis situations are very large in order to reach as many people as possible honestly and at the same time with relief goods, such as 50,000 identical and culturally appropriate family hygiene kits . The in-kind donations collected correspond to a much smaller amount of goods and need to be sorted, stored, repacked on pallets, transported and distributed. This takes a lot of time and also entails associated costs.
The needs of those affected change with the weather
In crisis situations, the need often changes very quickly and unexpectedly – for example, if the weather conditions change. The Red Cross can respond flexibly to this with financial resources and purchase the right goods. This way no relief goods are lost. Often, for example, petrol is simply needed for trucks so that they can drive away with the goods. If there are still shops where goods can be bought, vouchers are distributed to people so that they can buy what they urgently need on the spot. This supports the local economy and thus faster economic recovery and jobs.
Source: Krone
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