An Open Letter to A Donor

I wrote this letter to one of our donors but then I realised I want you all to read it-

Dear

This week in Calais we have been doing targeted distributions to find the refugees who have the least and help them. We ask them what is the single thing they need the most so we can try to get it to them. This tells us a lot. Their answers have been:

Phone 27%
Boots 23%
Coat 19%
Joggers 14%
Backpack 13%
Trainers 4%

With phones we tell them we only have basic phones, not smartphones, but the answer we hear is – I don’t care I just want to call my family. This shows we are reaching with right people and they really need the phones you brought. We bought Lyca sims with €5 credit as these people won’t be able to access the phone credit facebook group.

With the boots it’s telling that 23% have asked for waterproof boots where only 4% asked for trainers. Their reactions showed how desperate they were for warm, dry feet and again we feel we have found those who are in the most need as they were so pleased to receive them.

They were so happy with the coats. It’s getting colder here already and with the police taking sleeping bags away this is the only way to keep warm at night as well as in the day.

We wanted to thank you so much for giving us the ability to do this work this week. Seeing the real difference your donations have made has been a pleasure and a privilege.

Thank you from us all at Care4Calais.