Gard Food Bank: a collection on Saturday to deal with the increase in precariousness

The orange vests of the Food Bank volunteers welcome you this Saturday, May 25, to around sixty stores in Gard to collect shelf-stable products. Free Midi – VICTOR GUILLOTEAU

This Saturday, May 25, the Food Bank is organizing a spring collection in around sixty stores in Gard.

"An entrepreneurial organization with an associative spirit". This is how Joseph Pronesti, president of the Gard Food Bank, summarizes the implementation of the spring collection. Saturday May 25, "around sixty stores" of the department will be partners to collect food donations from individuals, mainly in large and medium-sized stores. Only shelf-stable products.

The structure distributes free of charge every day, through its 91 partner associations, 6.5 tonnes of food, the equivalent of 13,000 meals. Saturday's collection, between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., will continue on Sunday for some BA30 partner associations. At the national level, supply is ensured by funds from the European Union and the State, mass distribution and the agri-food industries. In Gard, an agreement was signed last October with the Chamber of Agriculture to recover unsold produce from producers. Some food banks lack donations and must appeal to individuals.

Essential volunteers

The spring collection is aimed "exclusively at consumers". It is "less important" than that of November, which is national. In the spring, "about 50 %" of food banks decide to organize it. "It’is just to redo it s stocks." Joseph Pronesti doesn't want "to ask too much". Other associations, such as Restos du coeur or Secours populaire, also need donations from individuals. "Too much collection kills collection.& ;quot;

The two annual collections represented 10% of Gard stocks last year. The department's food bank had collected 158 tonnes of products. "I have set myself the objective of reaching 200 tonnes", says the president, who launches an appeal.& ;nbsp;"There is always a shortage of volunteers". Currently 90, for seven employees, we would need "20 or 30 more" to run it better. "Without volunteers, we could not hold on, insists Joseph Pronesti. To ensure the operation of market-station warehouses or distribution, volunteering is "essential". This Saturday, around 800 volunteers will be at the entrance to stores to collect food for the most vulnerable.

Between 2020 and 2023, the number of food bank beneficiaries in the department doubled, from around 20,000 to 42 ;000.

Spring collection between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May in around sixty supermarkets in the department.