18 hours a day, seven days a week: the Weilheim couple sacrifice themselves for Ukraine

Created: 03/18/2022, 22:52

By: Boris Forstner

Myroslava and Felix Schimke-Klubuk in front of the Weilheim "Pölti".

They currently live in the house and coordinate their fundraiser from there.

© Ralf Ruder

After successfully fleeing the Ukrainian war zone, Felix Schimke-Klubuk and his wife Myroslava set up an aid operation from Weilheim.

Weilheim

- A small table with chairs, a mobile shower, a coffee machine, in the corner a stack of medical supplies - the center of a successful aid campaign is different.

It looks even more desolate in the anteroom, as the renovation has already begun – after all, Schimke-Klubuk had planned to open a gallery in the rooms behind the 24-hour supermarket “Pölti” on Pöltner Straße.

"But we stopped all that, we now work 18 hours a day, seven days a week just for the relief effort," said the 33-year-old.

Schimke-Klubuk has already invested all his savings, including compensation for the expropriation of his building materials research company in Ukraine, and sold his car.

But the success of the relief operation gives him courage: "Meanwhile, two 7.5-ton trucks go out to Kyiv with our relief supplies every day."

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Help for Ukraine: Specialized in medicines, surgical materials and antibiotics

From the beginning they have relied on special help that others cannot necessarily provide, such as special medication, surgical materials and antibiotics.

The couple form a perfect duo for this: he is the entrepreneur with a wide range of contacts, she is the pediatrician from Kyiv, who keeps in touch with former colleagues in the hospitals of the Ukrainian capital twice a day via satellite phone and thus knows exactly what is needed on site.

"We usually buy in Poland because it's cheaper there," says Schimke-Klubuk.

But when it comes to special agents such as tranexamic acid, a haemostatic agent that is used for serious injuries, he also looks around online in the USA and China.

"It's about things that are difficult to obtain in large quantities but are urgently needed.

I think we're one of the few aid organizations in Europe that can do something like this on a regular basis," says Schimke-Klubuk.

Ukraine War: Transporter driver was shot while delivering aid

According to him, initially two private vans made their way regularly from the Polish border to Kyiv.

But at the latest when they were shot at by Russian troops on the way back and a driver was injured, the 33-year-old realized that things couldn't go on like this.

Since then he has relied on the Ukrainian military: "We bring the material in, hand it over, and they bring it to the destination on their secret routes.

It works great,” says Schimke-Klubuk.

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Thanks to the daily telephone calls to the dozens of helpers in the chain to Poland and Ukraine, he and his wife also know that the goods will arrive.

In order for the donors to find out as well, they once sent a "tracing delivery", i.e. they stuck notes on the packages and had them photographed or filmed at the respective transhipment point.

Because the help from Weilheim and the surrounding area is enormous: "We thought that people would donate maybe ten to 50 euros, but many gave much more - on average 500 euros, the largest single donation was 5000 euros," says Schimke-Klubuk, impressed.

"I have the feeling that I've lived in Weilheim forever."

Medicines for children have already saved numerous lives

There are individual positive stories, such as the first refrigerated delivery that arrived at a children's hospital in Kyiv and whose medication ensured the survival of 60 children with tetanus, or the first heart transplanted boy in Ukraine (14), who was given the necessary medicines to prevent rejection could get.

"But the work doesn't stop until the war is over," says Schimke-Klubuk.

Right at the top of the list is equipping the Ukrainian militias with first-aid kits, and a load of tourniquets have also been sent away so that limbs that have been severed after a grenade hit can be tied off.

"It's a matter of seconds, every bit can save lives," says Schimke-Klubuk.

And that is the goal to which the couple is currently subordinating everything.

Further information on the fundraising campaign can be found at the "Pölti" in Weilheim or on the Internet at tinyurl.com/2p88cek7.

Donations can be made to Myroslava Klubuk, IBAN DE45 2004 1155 0174 3087 00, purpose: "Save lives"

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