Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Towns squares in Macedonia were filled on Sunday with people donating and packing shipments of food, clothing and other equipment, as part of a nationwide effort to help flood victims in Serbia and Bosnia.

In the main square of the capital, Skopje, people arrived throughout the day, bringing what they could buy in stores and donating it to teams of Red Cross volunteers who sorted and packed the items, readying them for shipment to the disaster-struck areas.

“We are overwhelmed by the turnout. People are generally following our instructions and mostly bringing fresh water, canned food, candles, blankets, diapers and baby food,” Stefanija Stanojkovska, a Red Cross volunteer, told Balkan Insight on the square.

Volunteers packed and loaded the items onto trucks that headed off to the flooded zones.

Media reports said that by Sunday afternoon the Red Cross in Skopje had collected 20 tons of food, 10 tons of cleaning supplies, 60,000 litres of water, 1,000 blankets, a ton of baby food, three tons of milk, ten tons of clothes and 1,000 pairs of shoes.

All municipalities in the capital joined the action on Sunday, turning local squares into gathering and packaging areas for donations. A special telephone line was opened for donating money to the disaster relief fund.

“Skopje of all cities should know the importance of solidarity and humanity,” said Snezana Markovska, a pensioner who lived through the Skopje flood of 1962 and the devastating earthquake of 1963.

“We survived and rebuilt our lives only thanks to the help that arrived from the entire world. We know all too well what a helping hand means in times of need,” Markovska explained.

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

“We are running low on water, some types of food and also of diapers. But people are simply pouring in and buying these items with the intention of donating them,” said Zlatko Kalaceski, a supermarket manager in central Skopje, adding that his firm is also joining the relief effort by donating some food items.

The situation was similar in most other towns throughout the country.

Some, like the town of Kumanovo, near the border with Serbia, are organizing teams of volunteers to head across the border to help the rescue effort.

The Macedonian government has already dispatched its own rescue teams to Serbia, including helicopter crews, firefighters, special police, army and Red Cross rescue teams.

In a telephone call, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, that Macedonia was ready to do all it could to help.

The power companies, ELEM and EVN, have also said that they are ready to help if Serbia suffers severe electricity shortages.

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic