MARIO RAISES €10K FOR CROATIA
A Croatian man living in Dundalk has raised almost €10,000 for victims of the earthquake in his home country.
The 4.9 magnitude earthquake which occurred just after Christmas caused extensive damage across central Croatia.
Mario Kolak, who works at Bellurgan Precision Engineering, is originally from Croatia, but moved to Louth seven years ago.
He explained how he wanted to do something to help those who had been affected by the tragedy, including many of his own friends who had to abandon their homes.
He told the Argus: ‘I was shocked and sad, but had to do something. I have plenty of friends in the affected area, some of them lost their properties completely and have to evacuate to other parts of the country.’
‘My family is safe, the earthquake was 100km from where they are living, so that was some kind of relief.’
But, having been in contact with friends and family back home, he learned ‘ The earth was shaking every few hours for the last 10 days and people are terrified.’
He decided to launch a fundraiser to help people who have been affected across Croatia.
‘I am part of the Facebook group Podcast Inkubator Reptili and an idea came from there. I opened an account on ‘Gofundme’ and folks from the group started with donations, followed by my Facebook friends and then everyone else.’
The earthquake was felt in the Croatian capital Zagreb, in neighbouring Bosnia and Serbia, and as far away as Italy.
At least seven people were reported to have died and many more injured.
With an incredible response to his appeal, Mario added: ‘I did set up a goal for €1000, but people became more and more generous and the word spread, so the amount was growing daily, with €9.849 to date.
He added that the funds raised will be transparently transferred to a club in Zagreb, ‘and from there they will buy clothes, food and construction material and transport goods directly to affected areas, with receipts publicly provided.’
I am delighted and grateful to everyone that shared and donated to that great cause..special mention to Podcast Inkubator Reptili, Podcast Inkubator, Drazen Forgac, ATT Zagreb, and my Sok Sak team!’