TORONTO – For the past three and a half weeks, Aleksandra Guculj has been logging almost 20 hours a day, organizing boxes of donations for Balkan flood victims.
“If I didn’t believe in this as much as I do, I wouldn’t do it,” said Guculi.
There are more than 200 tonnes of donated goods sitting in a Mississauga warehouse where Guculj has been spending most of her time.
Diapers, medical supplies, hygiene products and clothes that should be overseas now.
READ MORE: What Torontonians are doing to help victims of the Balkan floods
“It’s a little bit frustrating because you know that you can get it to them,” she says.
More than three million people were affected by the floods in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia that left homes, even entire villages under water.
28 Jun is a non-profit that has been working to provide international aid for more than four years, and spearheaded the move to help after flooding began in the Balkans.
“We received more than what we thought we would,” says Guculj. “I never imagined so many people would come together.”
For $100-thousand Atlas International Freight Forwarding has offered to take 90 tonnes of the essentials like diapers and medical supplies to the affected areas.
“We have organized with several different airlines so that we can get their best arrangement and transport the goods for them in smaller quantities,” said Ken Singh, President of Atlas Cargo.
Three flights will transport 15 tonnes each with another 50 tonnes traveling by boat.
WATCH: Air rescue team saves young baby from rising floodwater in Bosnia
Singh says they were able to cut costs by sending the donations along with travellers heading to Europe. A chartered flight would usually cost around $400-thousand, and Singh says it wouldn’t be feasible for any airline to offer something for free.
“The industry is in great difficulty if you read the statistics, you will see that very few airlines are making money. There is corporate pressure on airlines to perform and to make these kind of contributions i think are going to be difficult for any airline to do,” he said.
After the Haiti earthquake, Air Canada stepped in to help.
“Right away we set up some flights to go bring refugees home and even after a few days we were the first to bring back orphans and over the few days we brought back nearly 300 orphans. We had direct flights. This was possible,” says Isabelle Arthur, a spokesperson with the airline. Arthur says when disaster strikes, the airline is in touch with either the Red Cross or World Vision to see what kind of assistance is needed.
“That’s what’s important,” she said. “That if we do fly out goods it’s the ones that are needed on location. So any organization of family or goods or schools that wants to collect goods, we tell them to go to the Red Cross and the Red Cross will come to us if they need our assistance to transport anything.”
The Red Cross says it is common to see people wanting to donate goods after a disaster.
“People want to be generous and kind and give people what they think they need, the trouble with that is that it’s very hard to get those materials to other countries. It’s very expensive,” said Tom Windebank, a disaster management volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross.
That’s why, Windebank says, the Red Cross requests cash donations only.
“The local teams on the ground know what’s needed, they can buy the stuff locally which is culturally and climate appropriate, you can also help the local economy recover as well by doing that,” he says.
Guculj says with an additional $30,000, 90 tonnes of the donations can go to where it’s needed.
She says continued fundraising from 28 Jun will ensure it all goes.
“If we’re successful this would be the largest humanitarian aid ever sent to the Balkans. So I want to see it through,” she said.
28 Jun is hosting a fundraiser dance Friday night at the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church with all proceeds going to reach that goal.
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