Weekender: Operation Cover-Up gains strong support

RUGGED UP: Hundreds of hand-knitted woollen blankets are destined for at-risk families in Eastern Europe, says Operation Cover-Up co-ordinator Chris Whitman, of Ngongotaha. PHOTO: STEPHEN PARKER

The generosity of Rotorua residents has again come to the fore.

An appeal to knit woollen blankets for orphans and elderly in impoverished Eastern Europe countries has been met with an overwhelming response.rdp

Operation Cover-Up co-ordinator Chris Whitman, who oversees the collection of blankets and clothing in the city, says 90 residents hand knitted more than 100 blankets for at-risk families in Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, Albania, Croatia and Bulgaria.

Moldova, which has signed partnership agreements with the European Union, is recognised as the poorest country in Europe.

The appeal, now in its 13th year, also provided hundreds of items of clothing for babies, children and adults.

Plastic bags full of slippers, socks, hats, stationery, toiletries and sewing materials donated to the appeal cover the floor of Chris' Ngongotaha garage.

It was a hugely generous response when you consider it takes three weeks to knit one blanket, she says.

"Most knitters can only manage one blanket a year.

"It's absolutely incredible the amount of wool which came in - it will keep the appeal going for another year at least.

"Life is so harsh in some of these countries that if the children are not able to be clothed, their families have no choice but to place them in an orphanage.

"The elderly who cannot afford to live in their homes are asked to leave and fend for themselves, placing more burden on their families."

Tension is also high in Ukraine where the men are on standby if the turmoil in the east of the country extends into the west, she says.

Boxes of blankets and other donations will be taken to Taupo and put into wool bales before being trucked to Auckland and shipped to Holland for distribution by aid agency Mission Without Borders in November.