Clonmel business man appeals for humanitarian aid and will transport it to Ukraine next week
Donations can be submitted to The Bunker Restaurant or D'Bunked Deli in Clonmel
A Clonmel businessman is preparing to bring a van load of humanitarian aid to the Polish/Ukrainian border to handover to fellow Clonmel man Andrew Laste, who is in Ukraine at the moment assisting with the humanitarian aid effort.
Jamie Driver, owner of The Bunker Restaurant and D’Bunked Deli in Clonmel, has appealed for donations of a range of humanitarian aid supplies from individual first aid kits and burn dressings to camper beds, sleeping bags, shovels, axes, power tools and batteries.
A full list of goods required is listed on the Stand with Ukraine – Co. Tipperary Facebook page.
Jamie is not seeking donations of clothes and is organising food donations himself as he is in the restaurant trade.
For people who wish to support the aid effort but don’t have items on the list to donate, Jamie is also setting up a GoFundMe page for financial donations, which will be used to purchase aid supplies.
He has been moved to take this bold action to help the people of Ukraine as one of his staff, Adi Fox, is part Ukrainian and she has relatives living there who are directly affected by the war.
Jamie plans to leave Ireland with a Ford Transit van load of aid on Saturday, March 26. He will hand over the aid to former Tipperary fire fighter and emergency medical technician Andrew Laste, who brought a van load of medical aid to the Ukrainian city of Lviv last weekend with Carrick-on-Suir man Anthony Broxson.
Andrew, who runs Clonmel firm Emergency Medical Training Solutions with his Ukrainian wife Elena, has stayed on in the city to do volunteer work, establish supply links for humanitarian aid donated from county Tipperary and to progress efforts to get his father-in-law Victor out of Ukraine and to Clonmel.
A friend is accompanying Jamie Driver on the three-day journey and he is hoping one more volunteer will travel. Donations can be dropped into The Bunker Restaurant on Sarsfield Street and D’Bunked Deli on Gladstone Street during their opening hours. Information on the GoFundMe page is available on The Bunker Restaurant Facebook page.