Carmen Martinez He has been a coordinator for seven years of his 65 years and it is easy for him to explain to a group of young people how to collect and order food for the Great Collection of the Food Bank of the Spanish capital. This year, the challenge is twofold: in addition to reaching the actions to fill the NGO’s warehouses, 50% of profits It will go to people affected by the devastation of DANA.
Carmen’s collection point at a hypermarket in Alcobendas, on the outskirts of Madrid, looks bright. half full containers. They register between 150 and 200 kilos cans of tuna, baby cereals or sachets of sugar. “You see that there are people who think about Valencia, because we ask for non-perishable food, but suddenly there are those who come with hygiene equipment, bleach and gel “, explains the coordinator.
The three days of Great pickup They are used each year to prepare the 54 warehouses across the country for the winter. The president of the Federation of Food Banks of Spain, Francisco Greciano, estimated that this year it was going to be difficult to achieve. “We feared that the wave of solidarity in favor of DANA was over,” he explains during a telephone conversation.
But civil society has once again answered the call. In the collection centers signed a 20% more peopleaccording to Greciano’s calculations. A total success for an NGO which works through altruistic work. “This year we have around 80,000 volunteers. This denotes the solidarity of the Spanish people,” explains the president.
But not everyone has to carry food bags. Donations can also be made when paying at the supermarket checkout. “THE economical collection this is surely the case much more efficientbecause it does not involve the movement of goods and banks can buy the food they need,” Greciano summarizes. In total, some 11,000 supermarkets across the country joined the cause.
Against disinformation
The lack of food due to rising prices in recent years constitutes an obstacle for the Food Bank. Now the hoaxes and misinformation. Some social media users took advantage of DANA to post against donations to historic NGOs like the Red Cross or Cáritas. Also on the organization led by Greciano.
“These are malicious hoaxes aimed at discrediting NGOs. However, we are doing very important supportive work by feeding more than one million people“, specifies the director of the Federation of Food Banks.
Greciano clearly explains how his organization’s system works: “In our case, not all the money collected during the collection reaches the food banks. It remains in the chains, in an account in favor of third parties, which is used in the medium-long term by food banks to cover their losses or lack of service. actions“.
For Carmen, who coordinates from the first line, certain “punctual” people caused “bad experiences” during her first day of collection at the hypermarket. “These are people who do not initially have the desire to make a donation and any argument will serve as an excuse. This year it’s discredit, another year it’s because someone told them that someone was taking them,” explains the coordinator.
This Saturday, Carmen Martínez explains to volunteers how to collect food.
The food bank has 28 years of history and the seal of the Fundación Lealtad, an organization that supports the transparent work of non-governmental organizations and accredits them as good practice NGOs. “In addition, they gave us a prince of Asturias in Concord [en 2012]. Hoaxes… There are people who like these things,” adds Martínez.
Víctor Acosta, professor of environmental systems and societies at the Base private school, in La Moraleja, has a clear vision of these discrediting tactics. “We must not let this information remain true,” he explains, stacking packets of rice.
The 48-year-old appealed to his students’ willingness to collaborate with the Food Bank. He says everyone participated: “It’s a good activity for them to understand that they were born into a privileged environment and that not everyone is so lucky.” »
Solidarity made its way again this weekend despite the efforts that many Spaniards have done make a donation right after DANAwhich struck the eastern Iberian Peninsula at the end of October. Greciano won’t have official figures until Sunday, when the Great Collection ends, but supermarket coordinators are optimistic. The goal: 12.5 million kilos.
Only in Madrid, the Food Bank serves 125,000 people every day. Greciano is now focusing on those affected by the natural disaster, where he affirms that urgent needs are being covered: “We hope that this collection will be a success because it will allow banks and, in particular, that of Valencia, to stock up in the medium term. And people are going to need it.
