Cannock group welcome 'inspirational' speaker
At their last meeting SI Cannock welcomed the inspirational Gary Fear who since the outbreak of war in Ukraine has made 12 trips to the country to deliver aid to its civilians.
Following a fund-raising visit to Ukraine in 2018 where he found the people so friendly and generous, on the outbreak of the war in 2022, estate agent Gary felt he needed to do something to help its people. After raising £6,500, in February 2022, he embarked on his first trip to distribute aid and has continued to raise money to take desperately needed supplies to beleaguered villages, towns and cities across the country.
In addition to food, toiletries and household items Gary has sourced much needed medical supplies, generators and power banks; in fact, whatever the people need, he finds a way to get it! To date he has travelled over 48,000 miles, delivered over £133,000 worth of supplies which include 12 generators and 4 power banks. He has also made many friends on his travels that assist him in distributing the goods.
His story was made more poignant as the club were joined by many of the Ukrainian families who have sought refuge in the Cannock area since the war and have become friends of the club. Many of them were seeing images of their homeland for the first time since the outbreak of the war.
This was a very emotional evening for everyone who attended and again brought home the suffering and hardship the Ukrainian people are still experiencing. Thank goodness for heroes such as Gary who is trying to make their lives a little easier.
If you would like to find out more about how Soroptimists support women and girls, please visit their Facebook page: facebook.com/SICannock or their website: sigbi.org/cannock-and-district
