A brainstorming session quickly turned into a concrete plan – to organize a bus bridge to Ukraine that would deliver necessary goods from Dresden to the border regions twice a week and bring refugees to safety on the way back. 

Just a few hours later, our task force succeeded in securing a convoy of 13 vans, a large number of relief goods and in-kind donations, and a whole host of volunteer supporters for the project. With additional support from our partner Arche Nova e.V., an organization with more than 30 years of crisis expertise, a donation account was set up for us almost simultaneously.

A full 72 hours later, our first convoy drove to Przemysl, Poland to the initial reception center. The journey went surprisingly smoothly, but an unexpectedly big problem awaited us on site: thousands of refugees and at least as many drivers, an excess of donations in kind and, above all, a lack of coordination due to the overload of the initial reception center. Above all, there was a lack of professional organization by the state or the private sector. 

On this day at the beginning of the crisis, the Przemysl site symbolically reflected only a fraction of what is currently happening in almost all initial reception centers in the border regions. In evaluating our first tour, we decided to address the problem holistically rather than circumventing it.

In cooperation with our partner monday.com and other organizations, we now provide a complete solution to organize assistance for Ukrainian refugees. This starts directly at the border crossing. Using an online matching tool, the first step is to systematically collect the data of Ukrainians and volunteer drivers. Then refugees and helpers are matched directly at the initial reception center. While still on the road, refugees can apply to our partner Wunderflats for accommodation provided by volunteers – all using online forms.

We also offer options for in-kind and monetary donations to helping people, to ensure that the aid gets to where it’s needed. To learn more about the entire initiative, visit biofabrik.com/youkraine.

Thanks to the many volunteers and the steadily improving organization on the ground, the transfer and in-kind donation problem seems to be solved slowly.

However, it appears that there is currently even an oversupply of volunteer drivers. Therefore, I would like to ask you to donate your gas money to Arche Nova instead of driving the long way to the border regions.

I am convinced that the help within the country’s borders, in the areas where there is war, is most urgently needed, I would like to ask you from the bottom of my heart to help the people in Ukraine.

With the donation account that Arche Nova e.V. has set up for us, you can already help with a small amount like 50€ where the help is needed most urgently – directly in Ukraine. Monetary donations are accepted under the following account:

Account holder: arche noVa e.V.
Bank: Bank for Social Economy
Keyword: Ukrainehilfe Biofabrik
IBAN: DE78 8502 0500 0003 5735 00
BIC: BFSW DE 33 DRE 

Let’s hope that this will all be over in a few weeks. But until then, we won’t just carry on as before. 

I am sure that together, as a network, we can make a real contribution.