About 30 organizations of Croats from Croatia and abroad said they have raised more than $220,000 to help earthquake victims in Sisak-Moslavina County. 

The One Croatia initiative was joined by some 30 organizations of Croat communities from Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, and Croatia, they said said in a statement carried by state agency Hina.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has forced all of us to start communicating via video conferencing. This created an opportunity to bring together Croats from all over the world since we all wanted to help with earthquake relief,” said Ivan Grbesic , executive director of the Canadian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce and president of the Croatian Government Advisory Council for Croats living abroad.

“This is the first time that we have witnessed Croats from around the world coming together since Croatia’s war of independence in the 1990s,” he added.

The One Croatia group has so far raised $220,000, and the funds are managed by the ACAP Foundation.

“This gives our donors the ability to see transparently how their donation impacts human lives. For example, we are in the process of purchasing an ambulance for Petrinja, an anaesthesia machine for the hospital in Sisak, as well as protective equipment for volunteer civil engineers,” said Masenjka Katic, vice president of ACAP Zagreb.