Helping NGOs & People in Need

TL;DR

• Eurosender has engaged in humanitarian efforts, responding to numerous requests for discounted or free shipping for those helping others in need.
• In December, many people reached out after seeing media coverage of refugees suffering in cold conditions.
• Joana Pereira successfully shipped clothing to refugees in Alexandria, Greece, emphasizing the importance of taking action to help others.
• Beatriz Gonçalves sent winter clothes to a refugee camp in Veria, receiving significant support from Eurosender, which provided a 40% discount for her humanitarian shipment.

We briefly mentioned in a previous article that at Eurosender we started to get involved in many humanitarian causes supported by other individuals or NGOs. We want to share with you some of the stories that we got to know through a few people who turned to Eurosender to ask for help in delivering what we like to call “happiness”.

The high number of requests startled us. Many people have asked us if we can support them by offering lower prices or free deliveries for the packages they wanted to ship to other people in need.

December was a wake-up call for us. Information and images about the refugees enduring the cold weather that they are not used with filled the TV and radio news, as well as the newspapers. It was the time when we received most of the requests from the people. And we want to share some of the refugees’ stories, where we played a role in.

The refugee camp in Alexandreia, Greece

The refugees based in this camp are the people whom Joana Pereira wanted to help. We received her email, describing the situation and the things she wanted to do for these people. We did not hesitate and we offered her a way to ship the packages without spending the money that would actually mean so much for the refugees. She got in contact with Refugee Support, an organization that offers help to refugees in Europe. Here is Joana’s opinion about this kind of actions:

“We want to do something but the day to take the initiative is always “tomorrow”. We spend a lot of time trying to find the time, instead of taking the time we have, even if it is not enough. This challenge we launched here was nothing out of this world. But for me, it was my “take time” to be able to reassure my conscience, at least for a bit. It was worth making my time, my short time.

This box left for Alexandria, for one of the many refugee camps set up in Europe. If someone wants to do the same, do not be put off by the “I would also like to help.” Just do it. Eurosender gave me a discount when I told them that I had collected 13.5 kg of clothing to donate. Since good actions generate good actions, I really believe that this box and this text may inspire someone to do the same.”

You can read more about it on Joana’s blog post.

The refugee camp in Veria, Nothern Greece

This is the place where Beatriz Gonçalves sent 8 boxes with winter clothes, so much needed by camp residents. She had previously volunteered in the camp in Alexandreia where she had the opportunity to see the work that the NGO Bridge2 was doing. This NGO is run by Sarah Griffith and her son, Sam James who have recently moved to the city of Veria to give their help.

Some of the things Bridge2 does are, according to Beatriz, “movie nights and activities for the kids, concerts and regular distributions of shoes and other needed items like supplies for the newborn. Their goal is not only to provide the refugees with the essential goods they need but also to show them that they’re welcome there.”

When Eurosender got to know about the story, we did not hesitate in offering our help in the form we can do it. “Since I wanted to help them I decided to collect and sort some clothes to send. I reached out to some shipping companies explaining the situation in order to get a good price for the shipment since this was a humanitarian help. Eurosender was one of the few ones that replied and was actually the only one that showed interest in helping right away, without knowing any details about the shipment yet. I couldn’t be more grateful for their kind and helpful service: they helped me through the process and in the end, they gave me a discount of about 40%.”, says Beatriz Gonçalves.

More information here about how Beatriz helped Bridge 2.

Our promise for the future

We learned that if we want to do more, we have to do it in a more pro-active way. This is the reason why we invite people and NGOs who need help in shipping what we like to call a “box of happiness” to other people in need, to reach us whenever they need help.

Small proves of kindness have the potential to set an example and to spread around. Thus, one of our promise for this year is to involve in these humanitarian cases more actively and give support whenever needed.

We will continue to share with you some other similar stories.