Nearly two tons of food were donated last weekend (March 28-29) during a national food drive organised by aid organisation Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome (BACA).
BACA president Isabel Jonet has called the results “very positive”, even though they fall 8% short of food collection in the last drive in November.
As she explained, Thursday was a national holiday which meant many people were on a long weekend break and thus not shopping at supermarkets, where donations were collected.
The 1.921 tons of food will now be delivered to 2,360 charities throughout Portugal, which together support over 436,000 people, she said.
More than 40,000 volunteers were involved in this latest campaign, involving 2,000 supermarkets.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed the “importance of everyone’s contribution in the bid to help provide food to those who need it the most”.
He also thanked volunteers for their efforts, making special mention of Lisbon’s Banco Alimentar (food bank), which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Anyone keen to help BACA can still do so by donating online at www.alimentestaideia.net
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
