Canarian Weekly
19-10-2012, 11:00
The Food Bank of Tenerife has issued an urgent appeal to feed the poor and hungry on the island.
Companies, retailers and the general public are asked to join the charity project of this organisation and get food to those most in need and increase the current number of beneficiaries.
In a press conference the Cabildo’s Minister of Social Action, Cristina Valido, with President of the Food Bank, Hernán Ceron, has stressed the need for support for the Bank to be stocked at all times.
The Food Bank of Tenerife has a warehouse of 500 square metres, according to Hernán Ceron, currently well-stocked with foods that come from the EU. However, the reduction of 50 per cent of these resources as well as the possibility of the end of the assistance in 2014, has forced them to implement a series of actions to prevent shortages.
This organisation also has the ‘Bono Volunteer’, where people can donate a monthly fee to the Food Bank, which allows them to buy food when necessary.
All those who want to collaborate with the Food Bank of Tenerife can find the necessary information on the website of this organisation, (www.bancoalimentostfe.org) or telephone 922 226 497.
Local donations
Closer to home, local Town Halls, Ayuntamientos, usually have their own food banks that are always happy to accept donations.
Another example is the 22 libraries in Tenerife that are collecting food items this week for people in financial distress.
It is an initiative promoted by the PROBIT Platform, (library professionals of Tenerife), a group that understands that libraries need to get even closer to society, especially in the current economic crisis.
So, until Saturday October 27th, anyone wishing to donate food, (preferably non-perishable,) can do so at any library in the municipalities of La Laguna (municipal), El Rosario (Tabaiba and La Esperanza) , Santa Cruz de Tenerife (TEA), Tacoronte, La Matanza, Puerto de la Cruz, La Guancha (IES), Garachico, Los Silos, Santiago del Teide, Adeje, San Miguel de Abona, and Guimar, Candelaria.
In Arona, local councillors are setting an example too, donating their Christmas bonus to the food bank. Arona is one of the worst hit Municipalities on the Island, with more families joining the queue for food every month. When Canarian Weekly contacted a spokeswoman for Social Services at the Town Hall she expressed her gratitude that the British ex-pat community was taking an interest. She said that anyone wishing to donate even a bag of food is welcome to drop it off at the Social Services office at the Town Hall in Arona or call 922 761600.
The same response was forthcoming from all the Town Halls in the south. So if anyone wishes to contribute to this drive to help feed local families struggling during this crisis, please take food to your local Social Services office or Red Cross branch. Recommended items include olive oil, rice, infant cereal, canned tuna, canned fruit, biscuits, canned green beans, UHT milk, lentils, pasta, baby food, tomato sauce and fruit juices.
As unemployment soars and more families find themselves pushed to their financial limits, welfare services are working overtime to help the growing numbers hit by the ongoing economic crisis.
Yet figures show that even the welfare departments are finding it hard to meet the growing demand, as the latest government budget slashed basic welfare services by 40 per cent. When taking the last two budgets into account, the fall has been 65.4 per cent, so where there were once 86 million euros, there are now only around 30 million to be allocated.
Now more than ever, many find themselves turning to food banks. Across the entire country, food banks feed two million people, twice the number than in 2007, and here in Tenerife 25,000 people, many of them children, rely on a service whose future is now uncertain.
Although the financial crisis that has ravaged the continent turned food banks into the people’s pantry, their existence is now being contested by European authorities, who question whether they should be funded at all.
Food banks have received financing from the EU since 1987, with twenty members as beneficiaries, but their support for 2014 and beyond will depend on the new European budgetary framework. The stakes are high while poverty increases as a result of the crisis: 116 million EU citizens were at risk of poverty in 2010, two million more than the previous year.
The debate about funding the food banks will begin this month. The champions of moderation and cohesion in spending, led by Germany and seconded by the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Holland, consider that the EU should not provide support to food banks. Last February, the European Commission decided to continue the programme for this year and next while it noted, “The opinion of several Member States not to continue the programme beyond 2013,” said a Commissioner for Social Affairs and Inclusion.
The supporters of so-called cohesion will face the defenders of feeding the people in the EU, a task that the cohesion group believes should rest with each European nation and not the EU. However, the Commission supports continued funding for food banks for the period 2014-2020, while lowering the total amount of 2,500 million euros.
“It is a matter of European solidarity, more important than ever in times of economic crisis,” said the Commission.
“The downgrade would mean a drop in annual funding from 500 to about 350 million euros for all countries,” lamented the president of the Spanish Federation of Food Banks, Jose Antonio Busto. He added that European funding provides about 40 per cent of the food, and the rest comes from donations from supermarkets and other sources. This reduction would result, predictably, in less funding for Spain. According to his calculations, Spain would receive between, “50 and 60 million euros a year, which resembles pre-crisis levels,” estimated Miranda. That is about 34% less than today.
“The drop in funding would be a problem, because demand continues to increase in Spain,” warns Busto
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/feed-poor/)
Companies, retailers and the general public are asked to join the charity project of this organisation and get food to those most in need and increase the current number of beneficiaries.
In a press conference the Cabildo’s Minister of Social Action, Cristina Valido, with President of the Food Bank, Hernán Ceron, has stressed the need for support for the Bank to be stocked at all times.
The Food Bank of Tenerife has a warehouse of 500 square metres, according to Hernán Ceron, currently well-stocked with foods that come from the EU. However, the reduction of 50 per cent of these resources as well as the possibility of the end of the assistance in 2014, has forced them to implement a series of actions to prevent shortages.
This organisation also has the ‘Bono Volunteer’, where people can donate a monthly fee to the Food Bank, which allows them to buy food when necessary.
All those who want to collaborate with the Food Bank of Tenerife can find the necessary information on the website of this organisation, (www.bancoalimentostfe.org) or telephone 922 226 497.
Local donations
Closer to home, local Town Halls, Ayuntamientos, usually have their own food banks that are always happy to accept donations.
Another example is the 22 libraries in Tenerife that are collecting food items this week for people in financial distress.
It is an initiative promoted by the PROBIT Platform, (library professionals of Tenerife), a group that understands that libraries need to get even closer to society, especially in the current economic crisis.
So, until Saturday October 27th, anyone wishing to donate food, (preferably non-perishable,) can do so at any library in the municipalities of La Laguna (municipal), El Rosario (Tabaiba and La Esperanza) , Santa Cruz de Tenerife (TEA), Tacoronte, La Matanza, Puerto de la Cruz, La Guancha (IES), Garachico, Los Silos, Santiago del Teide, Adeje, San Miguel de Abona, and Guimar, Candelaria.
In Arona, local councillors are setting an example too, donating their Christmas bonus to the food bank. Arona is one of the worst hit Municipalities on the Island, with more families joining the queue for food every month. When Canarian Weekly contacted a spokeswoman for Social Services at the Town Hall she expressed her gratitude that the British ex-pat community was taking an interest. She said that anyone wishing to donate even a bag of food is welcome to drop it off at the Social Services office at the Town Hall in Arona or call 922 761600.
The same response was forthcoming from all the Town Halls in the south. So if anyone wishes to contribute to this drive to help feed local families struggling during this crisis, please take food to your local Social Services office or Red Cross branch. Recommended items include olive oil, rice, infant cereal, canned tuna, canned fruit, biscuits, canned green beans, UHT milk, lentils, pasta, baby food, tomato sauce and fruit juices.
As unemployment soars and more families find themselves pushed to their financial limits, welfare services are working overtime to help the growing numbers hit by the ongoing economic crisis.
Yet figures show that even the welfare departments are finding it hard to meet the growing demand, as the latest government budget slashed basic welfare services by 40 per cent. When taking the last two budgets into account, the fall has been 65.4 per cent, so where there were once 86 million euros, there are now only around 30 million to be allocated.
Now more than ever, many find themselves turning to food banks. Across the entire country, food banks feed two million people, twice the number than in 2007, and here in Tenerife 25,000 people, many of them children, rely on a service whose future is now uncertain.
Although the financial crisis that has ravaged the continent turned food banks into the people’s pantry, their existence is now being contested by European authorities, who question whether they should be funded at all.
Food banks have received financing from the EU since 1987, with twenty members as beneficiaries, but their support for 2014 and beyond will depend on the new European budgetary framework. The stakes are high while poverty increases as a result of the crisis: 116 million EU citizens were at risk of poverty in 2010, two million more than the previous year.
The debate about funding the food banks will begin this month. The champions of moderation and cohesion in spending, led by Germany and seconded by the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Holland, consider that the EU should not provide support to food banks. Last February, the European Commission decided to continue the programme for this year and next while it noted, “The opinion of several Member States not to continue the programme beyond 2013,” said a Commissioner for Social Affairs and Inclusion.
The supporters of so-called cohesion will face the defenders of feeding the people in the EU, a task that the cohesion group believes should rest with each European nation and not the EU. However, the Commission supports continued funding for food banks for the period 2014-2020, while lowering the total amount of 2,500 million euros.
“It is a matter of European solidarity, more important than ever in times of economic crisis,” said the Commission.
“The downgrade would mean a drop in annual funding from 500 to about 350 million euros for all countries,” lamented the president of the Spanish Federation of Food Banks, Jose Antonio Busto. He added that European funding provides about 40 per cent of the food, and the rest comes from donations from supermarkets and other sources. This reduction would result, predictably, in less funding for Spain. According to his calculations, Spain would receive between, “50 and 60 million euros a year, which resembles pre-crisis levels,” estimated Miranda. That is about 34% less than today.
“The drop in funding would be a problem, because demand continues to increase in Spain,” warns Busto
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/feed-poor/)