By Michelle Crean

Emergency aid including food and medical goods - all the way from Killarney - was delivered to a Winnica Hospital in Ukraine on Wednesday, and it couldn't have been done without the generous €17,000 donated by local businesses.

HELPING: Donal O'Brien and Paul Fitzgerald pictured helping out with the fundraiser for the people of Ukraine.

KINDNESS: Local butcher Tim Jones was a major part of the logistics when it came to organising getting the goods from Killarney to Ukrainian people.

DELIVERY: A delivery in a Polish warehouse shows some of the goods which arrived from Killarney.

DONATION: Independent Irish Health Foods owner Henry Bartlett donated a massive €10000 to help get trucks on the road with items from the Kerry/Ukraine collection.

Several business people from Killarney - so moved by the horrific invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops under Putin's command - dug deep to help pay for trucks to deliver 200 pallets collected locally.

Independent Irish Health Foods owner Henry Bartlett donated a massive €10,000, while Paul Fitzgerald from Paul Fitzgerald & Son Building Supplies Ltd, Mike from Cronin's Quarries, Fleury Engineering, Boyles Patio Centre, as well as Offaly based business Condron Group Tullamore gave a combined €7k to O'Neills Transport.

And what's more is Colm O'Neill from O'Neills Transport also paid for a truck to bring some of the goods so kindly donated by Killarney people all the way to Poland.

Now all trucks have arrived safely to their destinations, and donations are now being sorted and distributed among those in need.

"All the goods sent from Killarney went directly to Ukraine," one of the organisers of the donations, Konrad Paprocki, told the Killarney Advertiser.

"Paul Fitzgerald from Paul Fitzgerald & Son Building Supplies Ltd. and Donal O'Brien from Olympic Haulage offered us numerous warehouses and storage that we could use as long as we needed, and all equipment they had available. Paul, Donal and their super team built 200 pallets and loaded them on all trucks, while butcher Tim Jones organised the transport."

What was initially a small project by Iza Dian, Diana Sobas Gorka and Konrad, quickly gathered a life of its own.

"Once we knew how big the project was getting Tim Jones contacted Paul Fitzgerald and Donal O’Brien and they just jumped at the opportunity to help out and to do their part to ensure that this would be a successful project. By the time we boxed pallets and wrapped the goods we didn’t realise we had another problem with around 200 pallets of goods that needed to be transported to Poland.

"So Tim rang Henry Bartlett from Independent Irish Health Foods and was amazed at the response he got from him. The first thing Henry and his business partner Richard Wilkins said was "what can we do to make this work" so Tim explained that we needed money to transport the goods to Poland and the instant reply from the lads was "we would like to donate €10,000 to make this work for ye". They also donated a further three pallets of goods to the cause. This is why we’re proud of the country and the people that live in it. Thanks to all the volunteers that were involved."

Ukrainians have this week been settling into the 72-bed Innisfallen Hotel in Fossa, and the 3Lakes Hostel in Killarney town but Konrad said they will continue their work.

"We are ready to help," Konrad added.

"We still have some goods we held back and we want to deliver it to the Ukrainians living in Killarney. If someone needs something they can contact me directly on 087 265 0106."

Also see Facebook 'Kerry for Ukraine'.