They donate less to Ukraine. According to the organizations, the Czechs are dealing with tight budgets and have become dope

The association feels strongly about the influx of donors Zdravotnizajisteni.cz, which has been directly assisting in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, assisting in evacuating civilians and providing medical assistance to civilians. Instead, it provides supplies and delivers medical supplies and medicines to critically ill children and adults. “At the moment, the support has fallen so much that we are concerned that there will be enough to buy essential items, at least for our health workers,” says health worker and association president Jan Zamrazil.

“There is still a smaller core of regular donors, but we are now feeling another downturn this summer,” he notes. They see the distractions of summer vacation and the numbness of conflict, which they are initially shocked by. “Now people consider it more than just something that’s just happening, but it doesn’t affect them directly, and the initial fear and shock have subsided,” Zamzarazil says.

So far, the Zahrádka Troja organization, which created it, has not been able to collect the required amount through the Internet collection Adaptation group for Ukrainian preschoolers, who had left their homes with their mothers, wanted the assistance extended further in the coming months. There are eight days left until the end of the collection, but so far only a little more than a quarter of the necessary funds are available. “Fewer funds have been collected from individual donors than we expected. However, the project was completed in the first phase thanks to the support of the VIA Foundation,” admits the head of the organization, Jan Spelka. He sees a decrease in charity in higher prices. “People have tight budgets, they live in uncertainty,” says Spelka.

Expected development

However, experts and charitable organizations predicted a decline in solidarity already in the first weeks after the start of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine. So it is not a surprise. “Most of the sudden and unexpected crises, such as natural disasters, have a very similar development. Most of the money will be spent in the first two or three weeks,” notes the organization’s head of media needy person Thomas Urban. Then, automatic aid from individuals who contribute different amounts to the accounts turns into institutional aid, where money flows through certain events or from larger entities, companies and organizations.

However, unlike natural disasters, war is a long-term affair, and the amount of financial resources needed increases every day from its duration. “Before the war, we had nearly a hundred workers in eastern Ukraine, and now the number is twice that number,” Urban approximates the status of employees only. During the first three weeks, the account for people in need received one and a half billion kroner for the Ukraine Support Program. Currently, the collection account of SOS Ukraine has about two billion kroner.

Over the past weekend, to mark the anniversary of Warsaw Pact forces’ invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, amounts in charitable accounts soared. People took advantage of the symbolism and sent larger amounts of 1,686 kroner or smaller sums to the number 68 to their accounts. “In our case, there were one hundred and twenty donors who contributed the entire amount,” Urban calculates.

He also added a large amount to the account of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic. According to his message on social media, it was 24.2 million crowns from more than fourteen thousand people. “These funds will be used to purchase military equipment for the Ukrainian Defense Forces after consulting with the Defense Ministries of Ukraine and the Czech Republic,” the embassy says.