Half of the proceeds go to that shelter, a residential community in the east of Ukraine for people who have fled the war. Together with a €500 cheque from the municipality of Aa en Hunze and donations from the RK Statie, Rolde’s Catholic community, and the diaconate of the Protestant (PKN) congregation in Rolde, among others, the shelter receives €4,150 according to the Stichting Behoud Rolder Kerk, the foundation for the preservation of the church, and €4,000 according to the Rolderpost, Rolde’s village paper. The other half goes to the foundation and to Volleybal Vereniging Rolde, the local volleyball club. The two organised the market together for the first time this year.
The money has now arrived in Dnipro, the Rolderpost reports. Russian attacks on the energy supply there often cut the power for hours, sometimes for 15 to 17 hours a day, and the heating also runs only on electricity. The volunteers behind the appeal are therefore going to buy solar panels so that one or two rooms in the shelter always have power. The residents can then cook and warm baby bottles there, and it stays light and warm.
The market’s theme was ‘A warm winter for refugees in Dnipro, Ukraine’. It was held inside and outside the church and ran on dozens of volunteers from both organisations and more than 70 sponsors from Rolde and the surrounding area. Alderman Richard Heling opened the market and handed the municipality’s cheque to a representative of the charity. Among other things there was a raffle of work by artists from Drenthe, and a Ukrainian mother sold cakes and pastries.
Ukrainian television broadcast a report on the help from Rolde, with footage of the Christmas market and the Jacobuskerk.