“Boots, work gloves, shovels and especially dry food like pasta or rice. This is what is asked a lot. » President Grégory Pierron knows by heart the list of foodstuffs needed before leaving for Spain.
After the floods which devastated the Valence region, the Sud-Gironde citizen reserve organized a collection to help the victims. If, initially, only a van and four volunteers were to go to the site, the initiative has grown: there will now be nine aboard three vehicles “full to bursting”.
“We had to rent an extra van for our departure,” explains Grégory Pierron, who points out that the association is not recognized and therefore cannot receive subsidies. “We're short on money, that's what we need to get going. »
Departure Wednesday
The small solidarity battalion will leave Gironde on Wednesday November 13 and plans to arrive the next day. “We are going to give everything directly to the town hall of Catarroja, in the suburbs of Valencia. We deliver to the authorities by hand because there can be misappropriation of donations which end up on the black market. »
Volunteers will remain on site until November 18 to help affected populations. “This is the priority mission of our journey,” recalls the president.
Before departure, the members of the citizen reserve struggle: they have to organize themselves and above all sort the donations: “We no longer take the clothes, we have enough. » Especially since some people have re-sold poor quality items. “A few people gave us dirty or holey clothes. We also got a toilet brush, nail polish, earrings… It's not great. »
But the president's dismay was quickly swept away. He knows that the collection is a success and all the offerings which will not be requisitioned for Valence will be redistributed to two Gironde associations: the Maillons du coeur and Envole-toit, two solidarity organizations.
