ANP Productions | Supply: ANP
At this time at 10:42
Amsterdam
Coronary heart-warming, that is what director Tineke Ceelen of the Refugee Basis calls final Sunday morning’s Evening of the Refugee. A document variety of round 7,000 runners raised greater than 1.6 million euros. They “by way of the night time and the chilly wind, actually and figuratively, drew consideration to refugees and raised cash,” says Ceelen.
A spokesperson for the inspiration says that the proceeds are a number of hundred thousand euros greater yearly. Final yr, 1.3 million euros was raised. In line with him, the variety of contributors who needed to register for this yr has grown so quick because the spring that at one level they closed registration for organizational causes.
The director was standing on the Westergasfabriek on Sunday morning, the place she mentioned individuals had been arriving on an meeting line at the moment. “It is a fantastic sight for a lot of causes.” It does her good, she says. “That is precisely the alternative of what I learn within the newspaper every single day about individuals on the run. Right here individuals present that they do have solidarity with refugees.”
Encouragement
Ceelen factors out that not solely a document variety of 7,000 individuals took half, however that 1000’s extra donated and welcomed runners on the end. “I’m approached by individuals who suppose it’s unbelievable that we’re organizing a counterpart to all that negativity,” says Ceelen, who signifies that the tour shouldn’t be really meant as a counterpart, however is organized in solidarity with susceptible individuals on the run.
“We’re surpassing all information this yr, the yield is greater than ever,” Ceelen continues. “I additionally interpret this as encouragement to proceed to face up for susceptible individuals on the run.”
Do not grumble
The director of the inspiration didn’t hear runners complaining in regards to the chilly wind, she says. On Saturday night on the first relaxation level of the 20 kilometer run in Amersfoort, it was pouring rain and blowing exhausting, she says. “However individuals got here in excited and mentioned: no, we’ll simply maintain strolling.”
The fifteenth version of the Evening of the Refugee began on Saturday at 6 p.m. The primary walkers walked a route of 10 or 20 kilometers in Tilburg, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Amersfoort and Nijmegen. Round midnight, 1000’s extra runners began a nighttime journey of 40 kilometers from the identical cities to a different metropolis, Den Bosch, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Arnhem.
