SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The solidarity initiative ‘No home without food’, promoted by the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation and CaixaBank, has closed its third edition in the Canary Islands with the distribution of 77,350 kilos of basic food thanks to the collection of 72,972 euros that have benefited more than 1,560 people in a situation of social vulnerability.
The objective of the initiative is to help the most vulnerable groups in the new social emergency scenario marked by a triple crisis: the pandemic, inflation and the war in Ukraine.
Aware of the urgency of responding to the people who need it most, the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation has contributed an additional million euros to the initiative, making a total of 1.6 million euros collected.
This amount translates into 1,718 tons of basic food that the 54 food banks associated with the Spanish Federation of Food Banks (FESBAL) will distribute through almost 7,500 collaborating social entities throughout Spain.
With these results, a total of 34,700 people are guaranteed basic food during this summer.
To the more than two years of pandemic (2020 and 2021), we must add the events that have occurred in recent months, in which the general increase in prices and the great loss of purchasing power are aggravating the situation of many families.
In fact, about 1.5 million people in Spain remain in a situation of food poverty due to the rise in the CPI and the increase in the price of the shopping basket, Caixabank details in a note.
This scenario is also reflected in the recent Survey of living conditions carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which places the rate of risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) at 27.8% in 2021, compared to 27% registered in 2020 in Spain, almost one point above.
The new crisis also has a direct impact on the food banks throughout the country and on the entities in charge of distributing food in the neighborhoods.
PRICE INCREASE
In fact, the rise in prices suffered in this 2022 has caused a reduction in donations and surpluses to supply the provision warehouses, which have been forced to reduce the amount of food they distribute by more than 10%.
During these last three years of social emergency, the ‘la*Caixa’ Foundation and CaixaBank have carried out the solidarity action ‘No home without food’, in which they have collected a total of 7.3 million euros.
Thanks to these donations, 7,770 tons of basic food have been obtained.
“We must all contribute to building a world with greater equality of opportunities, especially for the most vulnerable people. Our support for the valuable work carried out by food banks is part of this objective. We want to continue joining forces to guarantee that all families can access basic food”, highlighted the general director of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, Antonio Vila Bertrán.
In the current economic context, the CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Cortázar, pointed out that “the work that the Spanish Federation of Food Banks has been carrying out for years is more important than ever”.
For this reason, CaixaBank joins the initiative and makes the largest banking network in Spain available to anyone who wants to contribute.
ACTIVE DONATIONS UNTIL AUGUST 31
The electronic channels of the solidarity initiative will continue to operate until August 31.
People who want to collaborate can send their donation through the CaixaBank ATM network, the most extensive in all of Spain through CaixaBankNow, both on the app and on the web, and through the portal www.caixabank.es for those who are not clients of the entity.
Another option for collaboration is through Bizum, sending a donation to cause 38014.
In addition, the portal www.nohomewithoutfood.org will remain active to be able to collaborate.
