Fundraising campaign for our twin city in Portugal has started
Leiria/Rheine. The news from the Portuguese twin city remains bad: until Tuesday, almost all households were without electricity, the tap water was not running – and now, following the disaster caused by hurricane “Kristin”, there will be continuous rain until Sunday. As most of the buildings have suffered damage to their roofs – the repair work is likely to take months – older people in particular now have to be evacuated and moved to warm collective accommodation. The city of Rheine and the town twinning association Rheine have been in contact with the city administration in Leiria for days in order to initiate meaningful aid. The town twinning association is now calling for donations to a donation account “Rheine helps Leiria” at the Stadtsparkasse Rheine. “Town twinning is not just about celebrating and exchanging ideas. Especially in crises and difficult times, twin towns must also stand by each other and support each other,” says Reiner Wellmann, Chairman of the town twinning association.
“Reeguer Leiria” – rebuild Leiria – this is the motto of a coordinated campaign that has been running for days, with volunteers from the municipality in particular coordinating numerous teams to repair the damage. Hardly a tree has been left standing, there are countless wrecked cars and piles of rubble in all the streets. Images more familiar from war zones. Many economic livelihoods have been destroyed. “Life in Leiria will never be the same again after this disaster,” says Silvia Carreira from the city administration. But they will now show that Leiria is alive.
At the moment, Mayor Goncalo Lopes has asked teams of craftsmen from all over the area for help. The main task is to repair the countless damages to the roofs of many houses. However, this will be a huge challenge again in the next few days with the rainy weather. Many people will probably be happy if the damaged areas can somehow be provisionally sealed with plastic sheeting until they can be repaired. This is not possible, for example, at the Church of Our Lady of the Incarnation, whose bell tower has collapsed. The roof itself is badly damaged. And this is the situation at many churches and monuments.
In a letter to his counterpart, Mayor Peter Lüttmann expressed the shock and dismay that these images had caused in Rheine. As the twin town of the cities is a strong bond that connects the municipalities in good times and bad, Lüttmann asks about concrete ways in which Rheine can provide help: “Please let us know. We are ready to help”. After initial contacts, it appears that the city of Leiria could very well use support in providing temporary mobile accommodation.
As the town twinning association Rheine is a non-profit organization, it can also issue donation receipts for donations. Donors are requested to note their wish for a receipt on their bank transfer. “Rheine helps Leiria”: IBAN DE 44 4035 0005 0000 0708 39