The Stuttgart-based humanitarian aid organisation STELP is sending around 150 generators and 60 mobile heaters to Ukraine to support the Ukrainian population during the cold winter months. Around one third of the generators have already been received by the people in Ukraine at the beginning of the year. 100 generators and 60 radiators are currently being prepared for transport and will be delivered to Ukraine in the next few days.
“With the delivery of generators and radiators, we can help thousands of Ukrainians through the difficult winter months,” says Serkan Eren, founder and CEO of the aid organization. Since October, Russian forces have been targeting Ukraine’s energy supply and infrastructure. Millions of people have no access to electricity or heating. There are repeated blackouts throughout the country after attacks on power plants.
STELP works on site with local partner organisations
“Just before Christmas, I was in Ukraine myself. It is cruel to see how much the civilian population is suffering from the Russian war of aggression. People are freezing in their homes, many have no roof over their heads, pupils want nothing more than a heated classroom, hospitals fear for the supply of their patients because the electricity keeps failing,” explains Serkan Eren.
In Ukraine, STELP works with different local partner organisations such as Ukraine Alive, Leo Statesor Post Angels. The generators are collected from traders in Germany and Austria and brought to Ukraine by the logistics team of the Stuttgart-based aid organization. “We had to reload the first load of generators into small buses before the Ukrainian border, as the truck traffic jam would have meant days of waiting before the border for our drivers,” Eren explains. “The generators were then distributed throughout Ukraine by our partners via a transshipment warehouse,” Eren continues.
Generators heat warming places for civilian population
Now, shelters for refugees in Lviv (Lemberg) are heated with generators, schools in Kharkiv and the Kiev region are supplied with electricity and so-called “invincibility points” are operated. In these warming places, which now exist in almost every Ukrainian city, in small communities, but also in villages, people can charge their mobile phones, warm up and have a hot meal.
STELP finances part of the generators through its own donations. Another part was provided and financed by companies such as Retail Capital Partners AG and FXM Salge GmbH. In addition to financing, Retail Capital Partners AG also supported STELP in procuring the generators. Through its own network in the retail and consumer goods industry, Retail Capital Partners AG had the opportunity to quickly and easily provide a total of over 100 generators for STELP. Aldi Süd also supported STELP in the procurement of generators. The cost of a generator, including delivery, is 700 euros.
We have now started a fundraising campaign to be able to finance the power generators for Ukraine.
