It’s standing room only at Karolina’s home after generous Frome donates supplies for Ukraine
A FROME woman who opened up her home to accept donations of supplies for Ukrainian refugees in Poland, has praised ‘amazing’ Frome for its generosity.
Within days of inviting the community to bring donations of medical supplies, clothing and food to her home, Karolina Kozub – who lives with her two sons Kacper, 19 and Oskar, 11 – was overwhelmed with offers, filling up the entire ground floor of her property – including her bedroom!
Almost 100 boxes, with the help of her two sons and a group of volunteers, have been filled with donations. Some boxes, four van loads, have already been passed on to the main collection points in Trowbridge and Westbury. From there, donations are being transported to Poland to help Ukrainians under siege due to the Russian invasion of their country – one lorry load of supplies set off for Poland last week.
Karolina explained, “I did not expect such a huge amount of donations! My bedroom, kitchen and living room have been filled up completely. There has been no space to move around! Donations have come from as far as Shepton Mallet and Wanstrow.
“I am amazed by the amount, and shocked! We already know that the Frome community is amazing – we always stand together. However, I did not expect my door to be open all day on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday… people just kept coming. I even had to put traffic cones outside of my house so people could park and drop-off their donations.
“It’s been an amazing response; Frome and the surrounding area has such a big heart – it’s just wow! And I’ve made new friends through this experience; it has been life-changing.”
Karolina was inspired to open up her home for donations when she discovered that there was no collection point in Frome.
“I wanted to set up something in Frome as there are many people who want to help, but can’t drive to the other collection points in Westbury and Trowbridge,” said Karolina. “I just wanted to do something to help.
“I started the collection on Wednesday 2nd March, and from that point on, my front door was nearly always open.”
Currently the ‘Wiltshire Donations’ appeal has paused accepting donations until further notice, to allow time for volunteers to sort through the masses of supplies already collected.
For updates, check the group’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/wiltshiredonations, or email: wiltshiredonations@gmail.com
