“Do you know what despair feels and tastes like? When the children have no food, the deacon’s food vouchers were already used up at the beginning of the year, and the pile of bills just keeps growing.”
This is how the story of one family in need begins on the Autetaan kun voidaan group’s website.
Autetaan kun voidaan is a group of private volunteers who help families and individuals in distress. People who, through no fault of their own, have ended up in hardship and outside the safety nets of society.
Stories of those helped published on AKV’s website tell of illness, unemployment or disability, how one parent has been left alone with the children, and how daily life is managed with scarcity and at the limits of endurance.
Families lack food and hygiene supplies, essential household items, as well as warm winter clothes and shoes. AKV delivers concrete help directly to families: a bag of food, a large pack of toilet paper, a grocery store gift card, and clothing donations are bright spots in the families’ everyday lives.
“It was a shock to hear that things can really be this bad even here in Finland. That there are families where children go hungry. Or that a mother in one family had only one Christmas wish: a dishcloth and a dish brush,” sighs Emmy’s COO and founder Hanna Autio.
Warm clothes and shoes in the shipment
To meet this need, Emmy and Reima decided to join forces. AKV provided Emmy with a list of clothing wishes from families in need. Suitable products were selected from Emmy’s online store as well as from a large batch of discontinued winter clothing and accessories for children donated by Reima.At Emmy, the batch of clothes was sorted according to AKV’s list. Then the clothing shipments were mailed from Emmy to AKV’s local helpers, who had the honor of delivering Christmas greetings to the families. The shipments, assembled according to the families’ wishes, included, among other things, winter jackets, pants and overalls, hats, mittens, as well as warm winter shoes and rubber boots.
“We always donate usable, unsold clothes and accessories to charity. Usually our partners are Lohjan Hope Ry. and Karjalan Apu Ry. This Christmas, we also joined forces with AKV and Reima. It’s wonderful that we were able to donate winter clothes in the right sizes directly to those in need,” Autio says gratefully.
Would you like to help?
You can find more information about the Autetaan kun voidaan group online and on Facebook:
https://autetaankunvoidaan.fi/
AKV – Autetaan kun voidaan, helpers’ Facebook group