2023-11-23 11:23:28
This weekend, the Eure-et-Loir branch of the Food Bank is working to recruit volunteers for its national winter collection, which will take place from Friday November 24 to Sunday November 26. In this peripheral department of Ile-de-France with an aging population, the association deplores a shortage of volunteers “in certain damaged rural areas”, observes Michel Renoult, one of the 25 regular volunteers in charge of communication. “Unfortunately, for several years now, we have not been able to find enough people or associations who could collect for us.”
The Food Bank will, however, be supported by very active structures such as La Maintende in Courville-sur-Eure, which managed to mobilize around fifty volunteers to – at least – equal the 4.3 tonnes collected in 2022. “We will also have the reinforcement of high school students, often scouts, who nevertheless require adult supervision,” continues Michel Renoult.
Supermarkets that are withdrawing
Collection will take place in 55 stores in the department. A figure slightly lower than the 2022 campaign. The withdrawal of certain supermarkets will unfortunately not be compensated by the arrival of new brands having opened their doors during the year.
In this gloomy context, the association chaired since April by Marc Vo does not expect to work miracles. “Current inflation weakens everyone, not just the most deprived,” notes Michel Renoult. Already last year, weighed down by the declining purchasing power of donors, the quantities received in Eure-et-Loir had fallen by 43% compared to 2021, going from 95 to 54 tonnes, compared to -10% at the level national.
Faced with the emergency and the increase in demand, of the order of 12% in the department, the Food Bank was forced to allocate “since this year a special budget to buy foodstuffs that we are lacking during the “year”, admits the volunteer, recalling that, since the health crisis, the donation campaign has extended to the Internet via the platform monpaniersolidaire.org.
Food and health products are expected as a priority to replenish severely declining stocks.
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