Many Christmas dinners are canceled because of the lockdown. Schools in particular therefore have large quantities of refreshments left. A school decided to donate fifteen hundred Christmas clusters to the Haarlem food bank.
Many Christmas dinners are canceled because of the lockdown. Schools in particular therefore have large quantities of refreshments left. A school decided to donate fifteen hundred Christmas clusters to the Haarlem food bank.
“The school would actually use these mini Christmas stollen for the Christmas breakfast,” says food bank manager Ange Veldhuizen. “But that is no longer possible and now we have received them.”
In addition to the load of bread, a considerable amount of chocolate milk has also arrived. Day nurseries and catering companies also bring large stocks of products.
The food bank is very happy with the gesture, because it gives customers a welcome extra in their package in this already difficult year.
The food bank volunteers notice that all the canceled Christmas festivities have been running fast. “It is quite busy. Wednesday we had a full charge twice and today an extra ride”, said volunteer Rob (last name unknown).
No extreme customer base growth
Nevertheless, the growth of the customer base this year is not too bad, says manager Veldhuizen. When the corona crisis started nine months ago, the volunteers thought it would be extra busy, but the opposite is true.
Veldhuizen: “Someone who lost his job this year will still receive unemployment benefits or often have a partner who can provide support. Our customers have sometimes had three bad luck: they have no job, are divorced and have debts.”
All extra foods that arrive these days are carefully sorted. “Now we have full shelves, but later in January and February it will be quieter, and then we have to eat”, says Veldhuizen. “That is why all perishable products are neatly sorted by date. So that, even if it is quieter, we can continue to provide our customers with food.”
