charity
13 supermarket chains will participate in the Bancosol food collection with 2,500 volunteers and 150,000 kilos of food
11.10.12 - 20:57 -
Eduardo Barrero from El Corte Inglés. Fernando González
Two days, 13 supermarket chains, just one challenge: to gather 150,000 kilos of food that will make sure families in need have a meal on the table for the next six months. This is the aim of ‘The Big Collection’ (’La Gran Recogida’) that Bancosol, with the help of the La Caixa Foundation, will run on the 30th of November and 1st of December.
On both days, 2,500 volunteers will visit supermarkets in Malaga city and the province to ask customers to donate food. According to the Bancosol coordinator of food collection, Rafael Salcedo, the aim is to complement the initiative of large chains such as El Corte Inglés, Lidl, Maskom, Makro and more.
Volunteers will ask customers to donate nonperishable food. Salcedo explains that what is needed is “essentially, sunflower oil, pulses, sugar, milk, pasta and rice”. “Right now, we are serving 55,000 people daily in Malaga and the province”, says the coordinator.
This need to feed hungry families has not only led supermarkets to participate in the initiative, but also means that the social responsibility policies of these chains have incorporated various other charity schemes. “In Lidl we are very aware of food waste and some time ago we collaborated with various food banks, to which we donate our surplus, which is still fit for human consumption. In fact, in 2011 we donated more than 700 tonnes of food through this channel”, stated a spokesman for the supermarket which after four years working with Bancosol, has donated around 14,000 kilos of food.
Another of the chains that has joined the initiative, El Corte Inglés, will take this campaign to 33 establishments throughout the province, including branches of El Corte Inglés, Hipercor, Supercor and Opencor, according to Eduardo Barrero, head of external relations. He adds: “We are trying to show our support for Malaga residents who are less fortunate”. El Corte Inglés has already helped Bancosol in other campaigns such as the Bancosol Family Share, which aimed to collect 100,000 kilos of food monthly.
“Given the difficulties that many families are faced with, we believe it is very important to help to improve their situation. Thanks to Bancosol, we can help our clients to do their bit too”, highlights the head of the Marketing Department at Maskom, Marina Ordóñez, who adds that during 2011 Maskom, which will take the campaign to 27 establishments in the province, gave a total of 21,230 kilos of food to Bancosol.
The food will be collected and delivered by the courier service SEUR which has now joined the cause, and will lend a fleet of vehicles.
