Volunteering with Care4Calais

I'm availing of an unexpected gap in my schedule to finally go and volunteer in the refugee camp in Calais.

The U.N. has described the situation in Calais as a “Civil Emergency” and called for a “comprehensive package and…. a sustainable response.” However, governments are not forthcoming with such a response and it's up to charities and volunteers to do the work at the moment.

Following in the footsteps of a few friends who've been already, I'll be working with Care4Calais, a British charity focused on two core principles:

1) getting aid out to the camp ASAP, rather than stuck in storage somewhere, and

2) getting the types of aid that the refugees need, not just what people want to give (apparently this is a problem...)

They operate a warehouse where they sort through the massive amounts of donations pouring in and then distribute them in the camps accordingly. They're also involved with cooking nutritious meals for refugees, up to 600 a day, but even this is a tiny amount compared to what's needed for the 6,000+ people currently in the camp.

Care4Calais can only do the work they do with all volunteers making their own way there: all their fundraising goes directly into the camp itself and they don't provide accomodation or travel for their volunteers. If you'd like to help me cover these costs, I would very gratefully accept any donation you can give - nothing is too small! Anything raised in excess of my travel costs will go directly to Care4Calais. Thank you so much in advance for anything you can spare to help. Please feel free to email me with any questions at megan (at) meganriordan (dot) com. Much love!