“SOMEONE said there is no compassion in the world, but just look at all this and you see it in action,” said Ken Harris at Bow Gospel Hall on Monday morning, March 14.

The chapel was open for two hours to take donations of goods for the displaced refugees from the Ukraine.  It was an amazing two hours, almost as one person left another was coming in with more goods to add to the pile.

All donations received were to be taken to Exmouth to be sorted and passed to the charity Christian Response to Eastern Europe (CR2EE) and taken to Moldova as soon as possible.

The collection had been organised by Ian Finch and Ken Harris.  They explained that Moldova was officially the poorest country in Europe and that thousands of people have already crossed the border from Ukraine with little or no supplies.

“The need for aid is urgent,” Ian added.  He now lives in Crediton but used to live in Bow and still worships regularly at the chapel.

He added: “The generosity of people is quite emotional.  We have been asked if we would do another collection and we probably will.”

It certainly was an emotional morning, especially when reading messages on some of the children’s toys hoping they would find a cuddle and love.  Many bags had labels to say what was in them.

“We thought we’d maybe get enough to fill a van, perhaps also a car.  We are going to need several vans,” Ian added, amazed and delighted.  He and Ken thanked everyone who had donated.

Sue Read

• See more images from the collection day in the current issue of the Courier.