In December, however, this support will now expire. The founder, chairman and operations manager of Zesabo Jan Erik Meyer has the fullest understanding for this: "We are very grateful to the city of Bonn for the start-up aid after the reopening of Zesabo on April 1, 2019, in a new location and found it very fair that this assistance was extended by Corona for another year.“

Still, the expiration of the grant means Zesabo's existence is threatened because it can no longer pay the hall rent. On Facebook, the organisation announces, "We're going broke." Although the goal from the beginning was "to finance Zesabo on its own and with the help of many supporting members," explains Meyer, the director of operations. However, the Corona pandemic cost a lot of time, "during which we were not able to draw attention to ourselves with information booths and events and recruit supporting members. A good year ago, therefore, a call for donations was launched with the slogan "2,000 helping hands. The background: "If we get 2,000 Bonners to pay only 30 Euro a year as sustaining members, the financing of the hall is secured," Meyer emphasises. After more than a year, however, more than 1,100 donors are still missing.

If this number of helpers cannot be found in Bonn, "we can close down," says Meyer. He personally would be happy about further support from the city, but he also assumes "that this is not possible in the current financial situation. In addition, he says, they don't want to go through the city's various committees for this, and he thinks it's better anyway "if the people of Bonn think this project is right and important, they should support us with an annual contribution that is intentionally kept small." In order to pay the 30 euros annually, and thus become part of the Zesabo team, it would be enough, according to the chairman, "to go to the pub one time less in a year". Of course, a higher amount can also be donated.

If not enough donations are collected, this would not only have consequences for Zesabo and its 40 volunteers, but also for its recipients. Through Zesabo, 430 organisations supply more than 31,000 people in need, for example with clothing, shoes or school and office supplies. By the end of the year, about half a million goods will have been distributed, Meyer said, all on a voluntary basis.

Family Circle Bonn, for example, which has benefited from Zesabo for a long time and "has only had good experiences working with it so far," says managing director Anja Henkel. The family circle advises and accompanies young families in stressful life situations. "Often they bring existential hardships. At Zesabo, we can get clothes, furniture, baby carriages or diapers for free at short notice, for example, and thus help people in a very unbureaucratic way," explains the managing director. According to Henkel, closing Zesabo would "leave a big gap in Bonn's social landscape." Although there would also be alternative procurement options for the family circle, "it would make a lot more work. The advantage with Zesabo is that it's a central warehouse," she points out.

Fridays for Future Bonn would also be affected by a possible bankruptcy of Zesabo. The young climate activists use, for example, cargo bicycles that they have received from Zesabo. In addition, bed sheets or similar are used to make banners. "For our climate camp, we also got dishes and cutlery from Zesabo," reports Annika Bohlen from Fridays for Future Bonn. One is "regularly dependent on these materials". If this contact point were to disappear, it would be a bitter blow for the climate activism group "because we can't afford all the materials ourselves," emphasises Bohlen. "I also wouldn't know ad hoc where else to ask.“

This is another reason why Zesabo has definitely already been offered help, for example after the flood disaster in July. "For example, we shared Zesabo's appeal for donations for the Ahr Valley on our social media channels and offered our personal help," the climate activist continued.

Zesabo was founded on March 1, 2016, with the support of the development partners City of Bonn, Deutsche Post DHL, German Red Cross and the Catholic parish of St. Peter.