Myrtle Doherty from Ramelton has launched her annual appeal to bring the Donegal community together to help special needs children in Belarus.
This is the eighth year of the Belarus children’s appeal. Between now and January 31st, Ms Doherty and her husband Alan will be collecting nappies, children’s clothes, toiletries and vital medications to improve the lives of children in orphanages and homes.
The goods will be loaded into a lorry at the end of the month, destined for the Vesnova children’s orphanage in Belarus.
Almost 200 children with intellectual and physical disabilities live in the asylum, which has been transformed by Irish charity Chernobyl Children International to provide a caring home for many children.
Vesnova Orphanage – Image via Chernobyl Children International
Organiser Myrtle Doherty is asking people across Donegal to donate what they can and contact her on 0876825387 to arrange delivery/collection:
Myrtle said: “We are taking clothes (adults & children’s), washed and wearable and in good condition, shoes (in good condition) bedding/blankets/towels, nappies (adults and children’s), wipes, toiletries (soap/shampoos/bubble baths), nappy creams and the usual calpol/nurofen, etc.
“Toys: We can only take soft toys/teddy bears and jigsaws, colouring books and crayons/markers, we cannot take hard toys, battery operated toys or books.
“We can take wheelchairs, walking aids and crutches. We cannot take any prams/car seats/walkers/baths/changing units/etc as we have problems getting them through customs.
“We also accept financial donations which we use to buy nappies. Last year we sent 64,000 nappies and several thousand bags of clothes and shoes and toys and dozens of boxes of toiletries/wipes and medicines.
“We would welcome support from any local businesses that would like to help out also.
“If anyone would like to donate to this appeal or for more information contact me on 0876825387. We really appreciate all the help we can get. Closing date for donations is 31st January. Thank you.”
Check out the gallery of images from the 2017 delivery here:
Discover the story of how Myrtle began the community drive here in an interview with DonegalWoman.ie in 2017:
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