Just six hours after the devastating earthquake that struck the towns of Petrinja, Glina, and Sisak, our Croatian associations from around the world met via Zoom to work together to provide relief. This is the first time since the Homeland War that Croatian communities have so united for a common cause.
In meeting weekly with professionals on the ground and our experts (since December 29, 2020), we collectively identified funding priorities:
Phase I (in the process of implementation): Emergency ambulance vehicle for Petrinja and anesthesia machine for Sisak General Hospital
Since the hospital in Petrinja and six out of eight buildings of the hospital in Sisak are destroyed, emergency services are experiencing a great strain on their resources (as most patients have to be transported to Zagreb rather than treated locally). The wait time for an ambulance regularly exceeds an hour. Also, there is only one existing ambulance with a 4×4 drive capable of reaching remote villages in mountainous areas. This will be the second such ambulance and will greatly reduce the wait time for emergency services. Also, the Sisak Hospital identified the anesthesia machine (that can also be used as an ICU respirator) as their #1 priority. Both of these donations will save lives. (See interview with Dr. Dujmenovic, CEO of Sisak Hospital, and Dr. Fabijanic, CEO of the Institute for Emergency Medicine)
Approximate cost: $185,000
Phase II (ready to deploy as soon as all funds are available): Safety and basic equipment for volunteer firefighters, mountain rescue, and structural engineers
Leaving their families and jobs behind to help those in need, the volunteer firemen, mountain rescuers, and structural engineers have become the unsung heroes in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Unfortunately, many of them were also injured by collapsing structures. Our donation of safety and basic equipment seeks to protect those who protect others. (See interview with Josip Granic, head of Croatian Mountain Rescue Services, and Josip Atalic and Krunoslav Komesar of volunteer structural engineer corps).
Approximate cost: $65,000
Phase III (our long term commitment): Children’s Home “Vrbina”
Children’s Home “Vrbina” cares for 25 children who do not have families or whose families cannot support them. The home was completely destroyed in the earthquake and the children were relocated to other facilities. Our donation seeks to help return the children to their schools and their towns by building a prefabricated home. Once their facilities are rebuilt by the government, this prefabricated home will be used to house older children (aged 14-18) to teach them independent living skills. In addition to the monetary donation, we have arranged with the Home to pair their children with children in the diaspora (creating a modern version of the Pen Pal program) to have them teach each other Croatian and English languages. (See interview with Djurdjica Pavesic-Herkov, the principal of the Children’s Home.)
Approximate cost: $55,000 (or more if additional funds are raised)
As is the case with all donations managed by the ACAP Foundation, 100% of donated funds will be used for relief and all receipts and confirmations of donations will be publically available.
We profoundly thank everyone who has supported the relief efforts and call on others to join us.