Stocking the Food Bank for Ukrainians

Many people in Slovakia are supporting the Ukrainians. Rotary Clubs are sending tons of food and supplies into Ukraine. Here in Kosice there is the need to supply the refugee families. Enter people like Ali Adel, the Iraqi medical student who helps the Emergency shelter at the train & bus stations. Also enter Arnie Weiss, a Yankee fan from Miami, who lives in Kosice with his Slovak wife. He is constantly supplying the SOS Center, the Food Bank for refugee families. I joined him to to METRO, a huge wholesale club (like Costco, but even bigger), on the outskirts of town.

As is often the case, the SOS Center was almost out of food. We made three runs, and my money went far with these prices. The first run was for food such as rice, beans, oatmeal, and nutritious snacks. Arnie is the expert on what items “go the farthest” and what is needed the most. When I suggested pasta, he said it was not needed because skier Mikaela Shiffrin’s foundation is supplying it. We also bought flour and cooking oil but were limited to 5 cases of each (each case had ten packs or bottles). Why? Ukraine produces so much of the world’s wheat and sunflower oil, and the war has created a world-wide shortage. [Since we made three trips to Metro, we were able to buy 15 cases of each!]

An ironic sports aside: While Mikaela Shiffrin (pic in Barilla cap) suffered bitter disappointment at the recent Olympics, Slovakian skier Petra Vihova (pic in knit cap) just won the Gold Medal in Slalom. A first for the nation in Alpine skiing.

Another aside: With the mask requirement lifted last week, virtually no one here is wearing a mask. You’ll note the Metro cashier was, but she was literally one in a thousand (thousands?) While most people here have been vaccinated, that is not the case with the Ukrainian refugees. Even when offered, many don’t want or trust it. Of course, survival is utmost on their minds.

Our second trip was for just three items: huge sacks of potatoes (25 kg ea), onions, and carrots. Each time, we ran back to the SOS center, where we quickly unloaded with the help of the Ukrainian volunteers (even some older, like me). Other volunteers then broke the packages and bags into smaller units (a bag might have 10-12 potatoes). Laura (pic with me) oversees the center.

With a few hundred refugee families, the SOS Center needs constant replenishment. Arnie is constantly doing so; I just picked up the tabs one day. With my stenosis, Arnie called me “Good heart, bad back.” In reality, my heart is not in great shape either . . . But both are under control. I realize I did not take a photo of us together . . .

A fact of human nature may be that as a crisis goes on for a while (and this one may go on for quite a while), people tend to lose the sense of urgency that they have at the start. Drop-off donations have dwindled. But the need remains. Most of the refugee families here have found housing, but their budgets are impossibly tight. A few hundred families visit the SOS Center each day.And let’s not forget that “family” means a mom with her child/children, and possibly also her own mom. Dad is back in Ukraine, />defending his country.

Finally, the SOS Center is in the main level of the Municipal Building. The President of Slovakia, the very popular Zuzana Caputova, was visiting on this day, and greeting the President of Germany. So security was tight!