The “shop with a heart” in Siegertsbrunn is on the verge of collapse. Because the municipality needs the old fire station as a storage place from mid-May, the donation department store for refugees from the Ukraine has to move out of the premises by then. “It’s a sad ending, of course,” says Michaela Guggenberger, who launched the “shop with a heart” a year ago. Especially since the need is still great – “among Ukrainians, but also among other people in need of help,” says Guggenberger. According to Guggenberger, the donation department store in Siegertsbrunn is not just a place where they can get clothes, groceries, hygiene items and other used goods for free. But the facility is also a “real meeting place for the approximately 100 visitors a week, where they can forget their fate for a short time”.
Michaela Guggenberger lives in Egmating and comes from Oberpframmern. For her “shop with a heart” she initially stored the donations in her garden shed, which soon proved to be too small. As a result, the aid organization first moved to a youth room in Oberpframmern before finding a home in the old fire station in Siegertsbrunn after a stopover in Egmating. There the “shop with a heart” for refugees from Ukraine is currently open on Fridays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Donations can be made from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The items are sorted and handed out by a team of volunteers. The core consists of eight people; overall, however, more than 100 people would be involved in the project, says Michaela Guggenberger. There are also around 20 helpers from Ukraine who lend a hand on Fridays.
Michaela Guggenberger initiated the “shop with a heart” and runs it with a team of volunteers.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
“We have received feedback from many refugees that the ‘shop with a heart’ is light and hope for them,” says the founder. Now, however, this offer has to close. The reason for this is the approaching renovation of the multi-purpose hall in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn, explained Mayor Mindy Konwitschny (SPD) in the municipal council. The work should last from June to December; the hall will remain closed during this time. Before that, it had to be emptied, said Konwitschny. And to store the various gymnastics equipment, you need the heated rooms in the old fire station.
For Michaela Guggenberger and her team, this means that they have to organize a kind of sell-out in the next few weeks. For this purpose, the “shop with a heart” will probably also open on Saturdays. In addition, the donations will also be passed on to other needy people and to aid organizations in the future, says Michaela Guggenberger. “We don’t want to throw anything away and sell anything.” Probably from the beginning of April no more donations will be accepted. The details of this will soon be discussed in the team and then published. The founder rates the chances of continuing to operate the “shop with a heart” at another location as slim. “I don’t know if the helpers would move again,” she says. And in any case it is like this: “There are no suitable premises anywhere. Because without heating and without toilets it would not be possible for us.”
“We have a Whatsapp group with over 100 Ukrainians”
Despite the closure of the donation department store, the network that was created last year around the “shop with a heart” should continue to be maintained and used. “We have a Whatsapp group with over 100 Ukrainians. You will continue to get help there,” says Michaela Guggenberger. When it comes to clothing and other second-hand goods, she will refer the refugees to other facilities such as the small department store in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn. And then there are still considerations to offer a monthly meeting for people from the Ukraine – possibly in the old pharmacy, which will soon be opened as a family center after its renovation.
But first, Michaela Guggenberger and her team are busy with the approaching clearance of the store. The warehouse should be emptied by the beginning of May, so that the borrowed furniture and shelves can then be returned. And then, according to the founder, there will also be a farewell party in the old fire station – probably on May 13th.