Portugal’s Food Bank warehouse volunteers now are busy sorting and starting to distribute an influx of 2,129 tons of food donated by shoppers in a nationwide campaign last weekend.
The total tonnage collected from generous shoppers was an increase on the May 2016 collection of 1,921 tons and is only just behind the 2,270 collected in successful campaign last autumn.
The food will be distributed through 2,700 institutions to around 426,000 people who are known not to have enough to eat.
The weekend campaign was the 50th and succeeded only with the help of 42,000 volunteers in around 2,000 partner supermarkets across the country.
"Despite the great difficulties that many Portuguese families still face, countless are willing to share and to help to alleviate the difficulties of their fellow citizens," said Isabel Jonet, President of the Federation of Food Banks Against Hunger, who thanked shoppers for their generosity in adding food items to their weekend shop for those without enough to eat.
In addition to the basics such as milk, rice, pasta, canned goods and cereals, "foods that will brighten up the Christmas table" were handed in including dried cod, chorizo and chocolates.
The campaign carries on online until the 11th at www.alimentestaideia.pt
The Food Bank campaign runs twice a year with contributions all year long from the food industry, farmers, distribution chains and supplier which donate surpluses. The Algarve Food Bank scheme is run from warehouses in Faro and Portimão from which food is distrubted to partner social organisations that are best placed to asses local needs and identify those in the most dire straights.
Donations this year are especially welcome as governmment support dried up in 2014. A source close to the operation in the Algarve commented that funding delay was down to bureaucracy and governmental lack of will.
“The new programme should have started in 2014, but the Portuguese government at the time could not implement it and opted provisionally to use €10 million of the €28 million annual budget.
“In 2015, the same thing happened again, and at the end of that year the government changed. The current government during 2016 was unable to implement the programme and nothing was distributed. According to what is known, tenders should be opened in the first quarter of 2017. If so, the aid should be available mid-year, almost two years after the last distribution.”
