What kind of assistance is most effective? One that is constant, thoughtful and tailored to specific needs. Of course, it's good to buy cleaning products or food and donate them to the needy, but it's even better if you can provide them with permanent access to the needed products. Then the aid will cease to be ad hoc and will begin to have real power. This is the kind of help that humanitarian organizations, foundations and associations are providing, and in this extremely difficult time they are joining forces to support people coming to Poland from Ukraine. The organizations have also issued a special appeal in which they say #HowToHelp.

Adequate help makes sense

As the appeal reads: "We know from Ukrainian organizations that they urgently need powerbanks, generators, carrimats and batteries there , meanwhile we are drowning in rice, groats and other products that we have nowhere to store. We are setting our sights on long-term aid, including when the national uprising falters, so we have decided to appeal for donations." - This is how Justyna Orlowska of the Volunteer Center in Lublin, who organizes volunteer work at the border, talks about the current situation.

Of course, this doesn't mean that past assistance and food collections, for example, didn't make sense. The point is that these needs have already been met to some extent. Instead, others have emerged - less obvious at first glance. What the people arriving in our country currently need is known to volunteers and aid organizations that deal with refugees on a daily basis. Therefore, when preparing a parcel of gifts, it is best to contact in advance the chosen organization involved in helping Ukraine.

Long-term actions

Even a thousand packages of rice given to one family will run out at some point. When? That's hard to predict. Unfortunately, it's also hard to predict the end of the war and a return to relative normalcy. For those providing aid, this means one thing - long-term and well-planned assistance is needed. So that families in a few months will not be left without a roof over their heads, means of subsistence or basic products, which are now all too abundant. Organizations, foundations and associations in the organization of such assistance have experience. As we read in the appeal:

"(...) NGOs experienced in long-term assistance are already working on how to organize support for the next few months, in which there will be more not only refugees, but also needs and problems. We have not faced such a gigantic challenge and on such a scale since 1989. Hence a new approach to philanthropy is necessary as well."

Because many months of assistance on such a scale also entails considerable financial outlay. It's easier to plan aid when you know you won't run out of anything. Regular contributions enable organizations to operate stably, plan for the long term, but also provide quick and ad hoc assistance.

Appeal #HowHelpHelps

Therefore, humanitarian organizations, foundations and associations have joined forces not only to engage in aid in Ukraine, but also issued a joint appeal to those who want to help. In it they explain how to do it with your head. The JiM Foundation not only subscribes to it, but also co-created it. We believe that constant help has power, and this will only be possible through joint, thoughtful and well-planned cooperation between donors and organizations. And that involves ongoing financial assistance:

"This will not only allow the purchase of food or medicine now, but will also help cover, for example, the costs of months of psychological therapy or language instruction for those fleeing the war. Let's also remember how important the administrative background of the organizations and their staff will be in the current situation. After all, someone has to manage the work of volunteers, account for collections or reporting," says Andrzej Pietrucha of the Civil Organizations Academy Foundation, which trains and supports NGOs.

You can help those who are professionally involved in providing assistance by supporting both well-known, nationwide organizations and those operating locally. The biggest help will be ongoing financial support. You can make a donation, for example, using collections conducted on crowdfunding sites, Facebook and other online platforms. You can support us HERE By staying in constant contact with the foundation or aid organization, the donor knows not only what the donated funds were spent on, but also what is currently needed.

THE ENTIRE APPEAL IS AVAILABLE HERE