Campaign for the International Day of Action against Poverty

 Like the humanitarian organisations who are involved in the fight against hunger - one of the many aspects of poverty, and furthermore,  the largest and worst; Food Bank has organised a press conference in the the Medija Centre, for the World Day of Food and Fight against Hunger and the International Day of Action against Poverty. The goal of this press conference is to introduce the public to the magnitude of the problem and to make an appeal for solidarity. The main theme which was discussed was that of poverty in Serbia (illustrated with numbers, examples...) and in which senses our organisation can try to contribute to its reduction and to help people who are lacking food in the 21st century, an era of modernisation, progress, and of hyperproduction. Guests at our conference included the pre-eminent actress Tanja Boskovic, who supports our project and campaigns. She took that opportunity to emphasise her attitude towards poverty, how much it affects our citizens, how little actually needs to be done to dedicate oneself to others, and to remind ourselves of the important message of giving to charity, an act which allows true development among all people. At the conference we additionally announced details of our new campaign for collecting groceries which will be conducted with the help of the afore-mentioned international day of action against poverty, organised in collaboration with megamarket Tempo. The groceries are intended for displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija, located in the collective centre at „Crnotravac" at Banjica, and for socially disadvantaged families in Sabac.

The  organised campaign, a grocery collection, took place on Saturday 20th October, in both Tempo sites in Belgrade - at Kvantas and at Vilina Voda. Citizens had the chance, whilst purchasing for their daily needs, to additionally buy some products from a list, which our volunteers were given to distribute amongst displaced persons in Kosovo and Metohija. Food Bank, on another occasion, organised such a collection of groceries, the main goal being to develop solidarity among people, and the consciousness that in addition to us there exist citizens who do not have enough food and are hungry during the campaign. The campaign lasted only a few hours in each location, collecting around 340 kg of groceries, the company TEMPO adding a gift of 310 kg of basic daily groceries (flour, sugar, oil, rice, tuna).

This action also drew the interest of a number of companies to whom we referred the appeal, and thanks to their donations, we collected 6.8 tons of groceries. Soko Stark made a gift of 3.6 tonnes of their products, Dijamant - 510 litres of oil, Coca Cola HBC - 1.5 tonnes of various beverages, Paracinka - 60 kg of sweets and crisps, Centroproizvod - 390 bags of soup. The company Doncafe group purchased basic daily groceries - flour, sugar, oil (390kg),and MICRONET School for Computing, Foreign Languages and Contemporary Business Skills purchased Macaroni and Jam (48 kg). Food Bank wishes to thank the individual donators: Milena, Radmila and Marija from Duel Promotions, Marija and Aleksandra from Nestle Promotions, Radmila and Tijana Subotic, Zeljko Mileusnic, Z.G and all of those who supported this campaign with their donations. The campaign was also helped by Societe Generale, Medija Centar, DPC, Profile, the Agency for Marketing and Communication, the Printers DMD and Zebra, Red Cross Serbia, Media Cast, the French Cultural Centre and the Institute Cervantes. Food Bank additionally wishes to thank the thirty volunteers, and especially students at the school Milos Crnjanski, who helped with this campaign collecting groceries at the TEMPO sites.

The portion of groceries intended for 96 socially disadvantaged families from Sabac was delivered on the 27 October, whilst the portion of groceries intended for the 32 displaced families from Kosovo and Metohija was shared on Tuesday 30th October. Each family, in relation to its number of members, got on average around 45 kg of groceries (flour, sugar, oil, macaroni, milk, rice, tinned foods, tea, biscuits, jans, piskote, snacks, crisps, sweet items...). It is worth mentioning that all children in affected families are deeply affected by what they remember, and continue to need care. The majority of the displaced persons who live in the collective centre, and these people, live in very difficult conditions. For example, they live in huts falling into disrepair, which are also difficult to heat in the cold - these conditions are adverse to say the least.

With respect to the groceries collected in significant quantities, this campaign distributed groceries among displaced persons currently residing in huts in the Vidikovac and Miljakovac areas (totalling 117 members) and among socially disadvantaged people in Novi Kozjak.

In the coming period, Food Bank will continue to collaborate with the company Delta Maxi in a new form. The company Delta Maxi will collect groceries during the Christmas Fast at its sites from customers who are willing to help their fellow citizens. Additionally, each week, 300kg of basic daily groceries will be presented, which the Food Bank will distribute amongst socially disadvantaged families in the Belgrade area.