More and more people need food aid during the corona crisis, the Red Cross notes. In particular, people who earn their money with undeclared work, such as cleaners, get into trouble.
The corona crisis provides the Red Cross with the “largest relief operation since the flood disaster”, can be read on the site. And the number of people calling for that help is growing. To be able to offer more food aid, the aid organization therefore opens a special account number, giro 7244. With the collected money, at least three thousand people would be able to get at least one meal a day.
Spokesperson Iris van Deinse: “We see that during this corona crisis, a large group of people lose their job, run into financial difficulties and are therefore unable to provide for their basic needs. We already started offering food aid in May, but we see the need increasing. The demand for food aid is increasing. We are now trying to provide more for this with this action, also because we have no idea how long this corona crisis will last. On Sunday I was in Leiden, where a few weeks ago we still had twenty requests for help. On Sunday there were already fifty. That is an example in miniature. ”
“The group is a mix of, for example, undocumented migrants and labor migrants. It is estimated that some 25,000 people are currently in an emergency due to the corona crisis. They cannot get help from other organizations, or do not know where to find them. These are people who previously made money, but who are no longer able to do it. Think of cleaners, or people in the hospitality industry or construction, who often work undeclared. They are now left out. ”
“It’s not very much either. Of course we hope to be able to help more people, in the end: three thousand is the minimum number. We’ve been giving help for months. Since May, more than 25,000 food parcels and some 25,000 shopping cards have been distributed, but more is needed. With the extra money we want to give people 15 euro shopping cards a week. They can do their own shopping and buy one meal a day, if they buy smartly. For example, I hear from people on the street that they are happy with this ticket system, because they don’t have a kitchen. With such a pass they can at least buy a ready-to-eat meal. ”
“We get the people in through regional organizations, which refer these people to us. These people are in need, so we do not apply any criteria in that regard, although the regional organizations may have already set them. ”
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