Little Ukrainians are preparing to spend a third Christmas at war. To bring them a little comfort, the Westport-Marigny-Lyman association is sending Christmas packages for the second year in a row to children in the town of Lyman, in the Donbass region, in eastern Ukraine. . 500 packages are packaged in Marigny-le-Lozon, before being shipped by the end of November.
Norman gifts
Each child will be able to find caramels from Isigny, shortbread from the Mère Poulard biscuit factory, chocolate from the Chevaliers d'Argouge, but also new toys and warm clothes in their package. This year the association collected 20,000 euros in donations, allowing it to send 200 more packages than last year thanks to its partners in particular.
Louison Leroy
“The new thing is that we left a note in each package so that the children can send a short text back to the donors,” says René Gautier. The president of the association plans to ask Marigny middle school students to set up a mail correspondence project.
“It’s vital”
Packages are a help « vitale » for Sandrine, Bernadette and the other volunteers who are busy filling the packages. It is also a form of recognition of the American aid that Marigny received at the end of the Second World War, from the town of Westport in Connecticut. “When the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022, with Westport we immediately decided to help a city in Ukraine,” says René Gautier.
The association's volunteers would like to go to Lyman one day, but it is too dangerous today. The city is located about a hundred kilometers from the border with Russia. “As long as there is war, we call on an NGO on site to take care of distribution,” explains René Gautier. And even if the conflict ends one day, he assures us: the association will continue to send packages as long as possible.
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