Behind the community center of the Ukrainian-Greek Catholics on Schönstrasse in Untergiesing, the parcels are stacked a meter high on Sunday afternoon. Young men have formed a chain to load a van. The members of the community in Munich have distributed their appeal for donations via social networks and also at the demonstrations of the past few days. They collect to provide the people on the Ukrainian border with the essentials: water, food, medicine, blankets. Inside the house it’s buzzing like a beehive. The system appears to be self-organizing in an impressive manner.
In the morning, Archbishop Cardinal Reinhard Marx celebrated a service with the Munich Ukrainians in their church and promised them prayer and concrete emergency aid. At the same time, he said, they also want to take care of the refugees who are expected in Munich. Many of the dozens of volunteers were there by eight in the morning. The day before, on Saturday, they sorted relief supplies and loaded cars from morning until late at night. Nine vans and three cars have already made their way, reports Marta Schmidt, one of the volunteers. The vehicles are then supposed to bring refugees from the border to Germany.
A wave of helpfulness rolled out in Munich. Every minute, heavily laden helpers arrive at the entrance to the community center. Meanwhile, the “Munich Volunteers” association has also started an aid campaign. Since Thursday one has been in contact with the social department, reports the deputy chairwoman Marina Lessig on Sunday. Munich residents who have a room to offer for war refugees or simply want to help in some way can do so using a form on the website www.muenchner-freiwillige.de Sign in. About 250 reports had already been received by Sunday, says Lessig, 33. Most of them quite openly, with the tenor: “I have time and I’m ready, please contact me as soon as I can do something.” However, it is estimated that every tenth report also contains a specific room offer.
A woman from Schwabing makes the office in her apartment available to war refugees
One that could provide housing for a limited time is Claudia Mades. The 56-year-old says that she had already taken in refugees for a few days several times during the 2015/2016 wave of refugees. Now it’s that time again for her. “We’re fine,” she says, “you can’t just sit there.” She would give up her office in her apartment in Schwabing for up to a month, two adults and a child could sleep there, she says. The voluntary association hasn’t found anyone for her yet; In a few other cases, however, this has already worked, says Marina Lessig. For example, for students at the Ukrainian Free University of Munich who have previously studied online at the Munich private university from the Ukraine and are now on the run.
The association emerged from the arrival of refugees at Munich Central Station in autumn 2015. It is now supported by the city and is something of a central point of contact in crisis situations when spontaneous offers of help have to be bundled. Most recently, the established structures proved their worth during the corona pandemic. Now it’s probation time again. Due to the large number of offers and inquiries to be expected, the association currently needs people who will help to sort and bring together these offers and inquiries, says Lessig. Anyone who wants to help with this can send an e-mail to [email protected].
The club received an offer of a different kind on Sunday morning. Several innkeepers from the Glockenbachviertel have joined forces and reported to the Munich volunteers. They would like to set up a soup kitchen for potential refugees arriving in the city.