Volunteers are the mainstay of refugee aid
Salzburg, April 22, 2022 (KAP) The Salzburg Caritas has emphasized the important role of volunteers in refugee aid. Around 200 volunteers are currently working with the church aid organization in Salzburg to help refugees from the Ukraine. They help and support on arrival and onward travel, coordinate, check and arrange accommodation or pack hygiene packages. In a broadcast on Friday, Johannes Dines, Director of Caritas Salzburg, praised the “great work” of the permit to comprehensively support people who have fled. “But without the people who volunteer, our help would not be possible. Many thanks for the extraordinary solidarity of the people of Salzburg and the willingness to give time for people in need!”
Gudrun is mentioned in the program as an example. The volunteer has already helped sort and pack clothing, food, toys, sleeping bags and sleeping pads in the Caritas logistics center. Now she is involved in the information point at the train station. “I think the war is incredibly bad and I want to do whatever I can to help alleviate the suffering of the people. I want to make sure that the people here arrive safely and are well taken care of. I’m fine and I have time, so I’ll help,” said the native of Salzburg. She described the people she helps as “insanely brave and tough”. The refugees accept the situation as it is and prefer nothing but a backpack.
Another, Alois Loibichler, works up to three times a week in the Caritas basic care service. They provide information on which documents are required and help with compiling them so that applications can be processed as quickly as possible. Questions about processing, duration of processing and school and education systems in Austria can also be answered. “You can’t just let people down,” he said. Another volunteer, Alena Teske, first helped with the sorting of old clothes in the Caritas logistics center and now at the information point at Salzburg’s main train station. For her, “the idea of wanting to give something back to people” is the guiding principle. Commitment to the disadvantaged is a “social duty”.
Caritas Salzburg helps people who have fled from the Ukraine in a variety of ways: At the information point at Salzburg’s main train station and in the exhibition center, people are given advice in Ukrainian, they are cared for and informed about further procedures, legal issues and the admissions process. In the background runs the mediation of private and private living space to give people a safe home. Once people are registered and registered in Salzburg, they apply to Caritas to be included in the basic service and thus for state social benefits. (Information on volunteering: www.fuereinand.atDonation options: www.wirhelfen.shop/salzburgDonation account IBAN: AT11 3500 0000 0004 1533, purpose: Ukraine aid).