Johanniter Christmas Trucker

The drop-off points for the Johanniter Christmas Truckers are ready. From 15 November to 12 December, self-packed parcels can be delivered to Johanniter facilities and various partners. The Johanniter are thus continuing their donation project for people in need.

Hanover. The volunteer Johanniter Christmas Truckers in the Lower Saxony/Bremen regional association are ready to go - from 15 November, they can start collecting parcels for people in Ukraine and Germany. Until 12 December, private individuals, companies, schools, kindergartens and clubs can hand in the Christmas Trucker aid parcels containing basic foodstuffs, hygiene articles and a small children's toy at various Johanniter locations and other partner institutions.

„There seems to be no end in sight to the suffering of the people in Ukraine. This makes the commitment of our Johanniter Christmas Truckers and all our supporters all the more important. A small gesture often has a big impact. Showing solidarity, giving hope and living humanity - that is our mission,“ emphasises Hannes Wendler, member of the Lower Saxony/Bremen regional board. „I am particularly pleased that many people are now packing their parcels in their private lives for the second time. At the same time, more and more companies are getting involved with our volunteer Christmas truckers, often making digital donations. We would like to thank them all for this commitment,“ adds Wendler.

Approximately 5,400 real parcels were transported to the Johanniter logistics centre in Romania last year by the Lower Saxony/Bremen regional association and a small number were also distributed there. The majority were transported onwards to Ukraine via partner companies. In addition, more than 1,400 donated virtual parcels were assembled directly on site by partners. All of the parcels are distributed to economically disadvantaged families, school and kindergarten children, people with disabilities, in soup kitchens and in old people's and children's homes. The food banks in Lower Saxony were also supported with almost 170 parcels.

The Johanniter volunteers distribute and hand over the parcels for Ukraine in close cooperation with their local logistics partners in the target countries. According to current planning, the convoy from Lower Saxony/Bremen and its volunteers will set off for the target region again on 26 December and travel to the distribution centre in Romania. Throughout Germany, the Johanniter are also supplying people in Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

To ensure that the volunteers are equipped and to provide support in the Christmas trucker's destination countries, the Johanniter also receive free donations and virtual parcels. The latter is a financial donation, the proceeds of which are used in the recipient countries to provide equivalent contents for the parcels and are prepared by reliable partners.

Packing list for the Christmas trucker parcels: 1 gift for children (e.g. colouring pad, crayons), 1 kg sugar, 3 kg flour, 1 kg rice, 1 kg pasta, 2 litres cooking oil in plastic bottles, 2 packs of multivitamin effervescent tablets, 2 packs of biscuits, 4 bars of chocolate, 2 solid soaps, 2 toothbrushes and 2 tubes of toothpaste.
All Christmas Trucker drop-off points, optional donation and sponsorship options and details of the current project can be found at www.johanniter.de/weihnachtstrucker to find.