Lending a hand to the community in need in the heart of Central Europe
In the middle of the after-pandemic-crisis when the lockdown and restrictions were released or lessened in most countries of Europe, volunteers have continued to help those in need in Hungary.
The current pandemic brought about a new kind of catastrophe which touched many lives all around the world. Apart from the virus itself and its risk of infection, many suffered the economical effects of it. Large families, single parents, or elderly, got touched by the restrictions. Some even suddenly lost their job without being prepared.
This spring, Hungarian Scientology volunteer ministers responded super-fast to the scene of disarrangement caused by the spread of the Coronavirus. They quickly assessed what was needed and wanted.
According to Timea Vojtilla, who is currently leading the actions of the volunteer Scientologists in Hungary said to The Social News in EU that “Scientology Volunteer Ministers are well known to jump in and offer their help in all kind of catastrophic situations such as earthquakes, tsunami, forest fires, etc. bringing order and spiritual relief to those who were harmed and to help them to take up their lives again. Our motto is “SOMETHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.”
First, they saw that hospital workers got suddenly burdened. They went into communication with the hospital that had been set up for the central handling of Covid-19 in Budapest to find out what their workers would need most. Answering the request, Hungarian Scientology Volunteer Ministers then provided the hospital with 300 kilos of fresh fruits, refreshments, and snacks to distribute to the nurses, doctors, and other hospital workers.
The following week they called the Hungarian Red Cross, which is one of the oldest and best-known charity organizations in Hungary, to learn what help would be most needed. As a result, they collected and donated non-perishable food to two offices of Hungarian Red Cross which then distributed these to families and elderly in need.
As in many other European countries, it became more and more visible, that for those who lost their jobs because of Covid-19, even if only through temporary unemployment, the future became harder and harder to predict. More and more people turned to charity organizations asking for help, especially those who had no or very small savings.
Scientologists gathered more donations and provided an average of 1 to 1.5 tons each time of durable food to different charity organizations, and as the word of mouth was running, they received more requests for help from all parts of Hungary and different parts of society.
Vojtilla said “We are going out every week, sometimes more than once, trying to fulfill the requested help as much as we can, helping with the most basic vital factor of living: food!”
Donations have included not only basic food for cooking such as flower, sugar, salt, pasta, canned food, oil, etc., but also fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, milk, sausages, and, thinking about children, also cacao, pudding, chocolates and different snacks.
The VMs, as they call themselves, or the yellow t-shirts as they are more and more known contributed to support different other religions knowing that churches were always anchors of spiritual support in troubled times.
As a catholic priest stated, after receiving a ton of food donations from the volunteer ministers, his “little countryside chapel had always been a shelter in its 100’s of years of past existence, even in past pandemics” and that he “was glad to receive donations from Scientologists, and happily distributed the food to all who needed it in my town, regardless of their religion or conviction”. The priest reported that he saw “tears in some people’s eyes when they received this help in these difficult times. Churches joining forces to provide solace in times of need are a basic need”.
“I was glad to receive donations from Scientologists, and happily distributed the food to all who needed it in my town, regardless of their religion or conviction”
A Catholic priest
Timea Vojtilla, spokesperson of the Hungarian Scientologist community and the main organizer of all those actions said: “We love to help others! And probably the most precious part of it is the teamwork when we can join forces with others! We are so much stronger together! Giving a hand to those who are harmed is an honor. I am very happy to see how many people were joining forces in this Covid-19 confusion and did not let others down. The Covid19 has not discriminated against one religion or another, an ethnicity or another, so our VMs have also been helping in Bodvalenke at a gypsy village famous for its wall´s fresco, an orphanage in Transilvania, and a children’s home in Budapest spreading a smile to the children with balloons and chocolate”.