22,500 euros donated
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Lions Clubs: Sports gear for refugee children
The donation will also be used to purchase indoor shoes.
Photo: Hans
Wuppertal The Wuppertal Lions Clubs, including the LEOs, collected the impressive sum of 22,500 euros to support refugee children. Social and School Officer Dr. Stefan Kühn accepted 500 vouchers on behalf of the primary schools in Wuppertal. They make it possible for the newly enrolled children to get sportswear for the lessons.
In the spring, Julia Schmidt and Ralf Ehser, representing the six Lions Clubs in the city, took the initiative to do something for the children who had fled to Wuppertal with their families. Many are from Ukraine.
You had therefore contacted Head of Department Dr. Kühn and with Heike Waltenberg from the Municipal Integration Center in the Department of Immigration and Integration about ways to specifically support the children who will be admitted to the international language classes this year. “It quickly became clear what was lacking, among other things: the children often lack the complete sportswear including indoor shoes to take part in physical education classes. Even if there is a lump sum for the school supplies for school enrollment, there are still gaps here,” said the Lions.
With the support of the Lions Foundation Germany, the Lions aid organization “Social Dimensions”, the six Wuppertal Lions Clubs and the owners of “Sportdirekt”, Martin Schwarz and Thomas Heymann, Schmidt and Ehser collected a total of 22,500 euros in donations.
In a first step, 500 numbered vouchers redeemable at “Sportdirekt” were printed for a children’s sports outfit. After the official handover at the Kruppstraße elementary school, the school management of all Wuppertal elementary schools with international language classes will be personally visited by a representative of the Wuppertal Lions Clubs in the next few days and the vouchers will be handed over.
Social and School Officer Dr. Stefan Kühn: “We are very happy about the initiative of the Lions Clubs and thank you very much for this valuable support. For the children, starting out in a new environment and a new language is anything but easy. It is all the more important that they arrive safely and feel welcome in their new home in Wuppertal. The good equipment with sports equipment will contribute to this – and also enable the children to be active in sports. This can also be helpful for your situation. Thank you very much!”