The Mayor of Vrgorac, located in the Dalmatia hinterland, who is urging citizens to donate unwanted reusable items, including clothing and footwear, to migrants. The town has made public space available to the Red Cross to receive and store donations.

Vrgorac Mayor Ante Pranić is urging all citizens not to throw away reusable furniture, clothing and footwear that they no longer need but to donate reusable items to migrants, according to Dalmacija Danas on January 21, 2020.

“I am asking citizens to reconsider throwing away clothing and footwear as well as reusable furniture. Namely, in cooperation with the Red Cross, we have agreed on another project to help the needy. I have signed a contract worth 49,287.94 HRK (6625 EUR), which deals with the reuse of empty office space that we have finally registered under city ownership after 20 years. We are allocating that office space to the Red Cross to use as a warehouse where citizens will be able to donate clothing and reusable furniture. We want to help the needy particularly with providing clothing and footwear. We are in a border area and there are often situations where we can help migrants who are in contact with MUP (Croatian Police). Our small reuse center is expected to open on March 1. I am looking forward to it,” said Pranić in a statement on Facebook.

Vrgorac is a town in Croatia located in Split-Dalmatia County, about 50km from Metković, near the border of Bosnia. According to the 2011 census report, the town has 6,572 inhabitants, the majority of whom are Croatian. Most Vrgorac residents are involved in agriculture, which includes growing and harvesting berries, grapes and various fruit trees. Craft-related industries have recently reemerged and are contributing to the local economy as well. 

As Lauren Simmonds/Total Croatia News reported on January 20, 2020; Mayor Pranić recently prohibited the use of plastic packaging in Vrgorac’s official institutions and various events held throughout the year, stating that they should be replaced by glass and much more environmentally friendly, biodegradable paper packaging.

Follow our Politics page and Lifestyle page to stay updated on community-based donation efforts. For more information on Vrgorac, check out their excellent website (in Croatian) and their bilingual town guide here.