First Mail Force food boxes reach Ukraine

THE record-breaking Mail Force Ukraine Appeal has ordered an astonishing 6.5 million items of food to help starving families in the warzone, thanks to reader donations.

A staggering 90,000 food boxes have already been packed by workers at Oakland International depot in Leicestershire since the campaign launched, with 30 lorries dispatched in a joint £8 million mission with the Ukrainian embassy in London and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to send 500,000 boxes to the country.

Each food box contains 14 items, including pasta, porridge, tinned meat, fish and vegetables, and contains enough calories to feed an adult for a week.

CBI president Lord Bilimoria said: ‘I can’t thank Mail readers enough for their donations.’

Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed how the first 2,400 food boxes had been whisked by lorry across Europe to a secret location in Poland.

Yesterday that first delivery of food, weighing almost 20 tons, was speeding across western Ukraine.