Inverness KJI's Castles and Entertainment joins local bid to help Ukrainian refugees with essentials collection
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An Inverness local business is joining in the efforts to collect necessary items in support of war-torn Ukraine and its refugees.
The owners of KJI'S Castles and Entertainment have started their own food collection two days ago from their home and said the response from the local community has been overwhelming.
Mariusz Roszak and his wife Aleksandra, who own the entertainment business, said that after watching the news unrolling over the past days, they felt they couldn't sit still.
He commented: "We were watching the terrible news one night and we felt very helpless at first, we were left wondering if there was anything we could do to help.
"Then the idea came and as other businesses in the community we decided to gather a group of friends and family and start collecting essential items to send them over to the Poland and other neighbouring countries to help refugees.
"We felt heart broken and we couldn't help but do something."
The response from the local community, as well as other businesses such as A Touch of Poland has been incredible according to Mr Roszak: "I just want to say how thankful I am for everyone who has donated and everyone who has helped. We couldn't have done this without all the people giving a hand.
"We had people from the local community at our doors and we had to do night shifts to tidy up all the donations in the house. The response in just two days has been incredible.
"It's amazing how small local businesses and individuals are now coming together. We have seen no efforts from the government or local councils in this sense apart from some schools organising collections, it's all done by the local people and the community response has been heart-warming.
"It's incredible what has been achieved with everyone doing their small bit. We are not taking money of course but all these items will be really essentials for the people there."
They are now calling for more donations of items such as blankets, sleeping bags, bandages, plasters, general first aid, baby foods/formula milks, tampons, sanitary pads, shampoo and soap, as well as pet food and other supplies, whereas they are not able to accept any more clothing donations.
The items will then be brought to the depot in Aberdeen, from where these will be delivered to refugee camps in Eastern Poland.
If you wish to get in contact to make a donations or to support the initiative, you can get in touch directly on KJI's Castle's official Facebook Page.
