Requests increased and, from one moment to another, the Food Bank Against Hunger in the Algarve had to double the number of people it helps. In a month and a half, everything changed, but the institution did not give up and, as of this Friday, 22 May, it is in 22 supermarkets in the region collecting food, in an initiative different from the usual, but pioneering on a national scale.
The end of May or the beginning of June is usually synonymous with the Food Bank campaign, throughout the country, at the door of supermarkets. This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the moment had to take on new molds.
For now, it is possible to contribute in two ways: through the Campanha online or buying vouchers for products available at supermarket checkouts.
These are initiatives that are taking place across the country, but in the Algarve, “something else” was thought of.
«We decided to launch a challenge to ourselves and, until May 31, we will be present in 22 stores in Algartalhos, Apolónia and Jafers, the supermarket chains in the region», begins by explaining Nuno Cabrita Alves, president of Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome in the Algarve, to Sul Informação.
«We have developed our own posters and the stores will have a place for placing food (or a cart or a container, properly identified). The stores themselves will create islands with identified products for the Food Bank», he adds.
This initiative will take place in all Apolónia stores (Lagoa, Galé and Almancil) and in three of Jaffers (Vilamoura and two in Quarteira – Largo do Mercado and Rua 25 de Abril).
In Algartalhos, the stores chosen are Olhos de Água, Quarteira, Almancil, Faro (Montenegro, Largo do Carmo, São Luís and Santo António), Olhão (Bairro dos Índios, Rodoviária, Bairro Cavalinha and CHASFA), São Brás de Alportel, Fuzeta, Tavira, Conceição de Tavira and Manta Rota.
In all these supermarkets, the volunteers will be “the employees themselves”. «They are the ones who are going to ask people to donate to the Food Bank because we won't have volunteers at the door, as usual», adds Nuno Cabrita Alves.
This really is an innovative initiative on a national scale. “It was our idea and we are looking forward to the final result. If it goes well, we can even continue, in the future, with this, in small stores, where it is not always possible to have volunteers during the so-called campaigns. normal", Explain.
Despite not making estimates as to the number of tons of food that could be collected, Nuno Cabrita Alves recognizes that, in this period of greatest need, all help is welcome.
«The Food Bank created a Food Emergency Network about a month and a half ago and, here in the Algarve, we have a team of 9 volunteers. We started to receive, every day, the number of people who ask for help and the team, which is organized by councils, makes the selection of people, along with institutions and city councils», he explains.
Moreover, since this Network was created, the Algarve has already received “741 requests for help, ie: the equivalent of 1918 people”.
We are talking about people who contacted the Food Bank directly, something that reflects the difficulties many people are going through in the region.
“It is, let's say, a different poverty. They are people who had businesses, had activities, traders or self-employed professionals who, from one moment to another, saw their business stop, without any kind of prior notice», laments the president of the Food Bank Against Hunger in the Algarve.
This is, moreover, a special feature of the crisis in which we are living. “The difference is the unpredictability and the abrupt way it happened. If a person is aware that things will be difficult, one always tries to adapt, but, in this case, what happened was that, suddenly, people were no longer able to work», he says.
At the moment, the Food Bank is helping around 18700 people in the Algarve region, a number that has “doubled” in a month and a half. “We have not yet reached the values of the time of the crisis, where we have helped 23 thousand people, but unfortunately, we are likely to get there”, laments Nuno Cabrita Alves.
But there is also good news: "the good thing about this is that donations have increased, more than ever." The Food Bank in the Algarve has received «support from agricultural companies, supermarket chains and the distribution companies themselves that are daily delivering here at the Food Bank», exemplifies Nuno Cabrita Alves.
During this month and a half, there have been around 7500 kilos of food donated. “There are another 35 tons that have already started to arrive and, later this month, we will receive another 20. With all the donations that have arrived and will arrive, we are going to survive”, he says.
In addition to this, there are also people making cash donations. Until May 13, the Food Bank received 6695 euros and there is a group of foreign citizens who have also donated another 5000 euros.
“We want to communicate this in a transparent way because people can have no doubts that this money will even be used to buy food”, stresses the president of the Food Bank in the Algarve.
In the midst of this pandemic, Nuno Cabrita Alves also insists on emphasizing the work «of all those who are collaborating with us and the institutions that, even in a pandemic situation, have not given up».
“Many times, this silent network that helps feed thousands of people every day is not valued”, he concludes.
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