The Food Drive Collected 520 Tonnes Of Goods!
Published: Nov 23, 2022 Reading time: 4 minutes
An incredible 468 tonnes of food was collected in the autumn round of the Food Drive (Sbírka potravin) making a new record! Up to 936,000 meals can now be prepared out of all of the proceeds. In addition, customers also donated 52 tons of basic drugstore and toiletry items. All the goods go to food banks from which social workers provide food parcels to those in need. The Drive took place in more than 1,400 stores across the Czech Republic and PIN employees were present in five cities across the country. Read the article to see how things turned out in the cities of Přerov, Ostrov, Prostějov, Jeseník and Bílina.
Hockey players helped out in Přerov
In the Kaufland in Přerov, not only were seven of our employees present, but members of the local hockey team helped out as well! "Zubři (The Bisons) helped us for about two hours. They surprised us, we didn't know in advance that they were coming. Then, at the end, they bought a cart full of food, helped us transfer part of the collection and took it to the warehouse," says service coordinator Helena Hilscherová. With their help, 840 kilograms of aid were collected in the end, which is a much better result than in the spring. According to Helena, people across all generations donated. She also highlighted the fact that people were better informed about what they should purchase and what will be most helpful to those in need.
They even tweeted about their involvement from their official channel in Czech:
They collected a tonne in Ostrov!
The Karlovy Vary branch collected 1 059 kg of food and drugstore products at the Kaufland in Ostrov. Around 250 donors came and were taken care of by our eight employees and volunteers. The mood was good and the donors were nice. According to coordinator Richard Kubíček, they donated much more than they did in the spring. "We were delighted by a gentleman who came running in saying he wanted to support us but didn't have time. He gave us CZK 1,000, saying that we know best what to buy. Then there was the old grandmother who brought a bag of sugar and pasta, saying that she couldn't give more but wanted to help those who were worse off," he recalls.
In Prostějov, senior citizens donated the most
At the Kaufland in Prostějov people donated 615 kg of goods. There we had three employees. "We were a little worried about the mood of the people... not to be too intrusive with the leaflets, but the mood was not different from other years, except for two questions about whether we would also give to refugees," summarizes service coordinator Martina Tihlářová, "We collected a few kilos more than last time, again quite a lot of donations came from seniors."
In Jeseník, Santa Claus helped out
673.3 kilograms of food were collected in the town of Jeseník. Eight of our employees, plus two volunteers were involved. "The mood was surprisingly positive. From customers who decided to donate, we often heard the phrase: 'We are not so bad off yet that we cannot help those who need it.'"
According to Ladislava Kubišová, a debt counselor in Jeseník, there were many small donations and some donations of an entire basket or cart. In two particular cases, it was a family with children and several individuals. Families with children were the most frequent donors, but the majority of donors were seniors. The most touching was a grandmother with a walker who donated pasta and a few other small items, saying she knew it wasn't much, but would like to contribute too. "Another touching moment was when two women with four children came up to us and donated a cart full of food, saying that they were trying to show the children that it was right to help too. When we asked if the children were looking forward to seeing Santa Claus, they replied that he would not come this year because the children were not good and Santa Claus did not have money for presents. We told them that just for the very generous gift, surely Santa would find his way to them.
Lastly, we helped in Bílina
In Bílina you could find us at Penny Market. Four employees and one trainee were involved and helped to collect 207 kg of goods. "Mostly people donated food in units of pieces, mostly pasta, rice, soups. These were mainly elderly customers," says field worker Veronika Bednářová.
"In the last 12 months, we have provided food aid to 908 families and individuals. We know the stories of low-income households and what single mothers and seniors face, so the work doesn't stop for our workers when they hand over a food package. We offer single mothers, seniors and others our social services where we address why a family/household lacks sufficient funds. We offer help in finding employment or arranging social benefits, which are especially needed after the huge increase in energy prices," adds Kateřina Dosoudilová, Head of Social Services.
