Food for all, is always on my mind. In my life food heals, comforts, creates memory moments & brings people together.

 Being frugal, and making something out of nothing I find to be a very satisfying task. Often I look at the sparse ingredients in the cupboards and at first think, ‘Oh my what an earth am I going to make ?’ then with a little imagination, experimentation & crossing fingers I often pull a tasty meal out of the bag. There have been times during our years in Spain, that times have been very tough, and chickpeas have been conjured into many a different guise , perhaps once to often, or as my children would say ‘Not chickpeas again Mum  ? ‘but our bellies have never been empty.

 This week I took a look into a real area of concern, for those who don’t even have the ability to purchase basic food items for themselves or family, an area that in these difficult financial times is unfortunately growing.

 Along with my daughter, friends Lisa from Family Life in Spain, and Fred Shively,  we visited Bancosol – Bancos de alimentos (food bank) a non-profit, volunteer run organisation in Malaga that collate & distribute groceries to those in need in Malaga province some 55,000 people !!!! They work closely with over 100 organisations & charities in the province. Each day volunteers collect food for all nationalities & religions, people on the street, orphanages, charitable & religious residences, who without Bancosol and its sterling efforts would go hungry.

Using its expertise, charitable donations and some EU funding, Bancosol, can negotiate direct with supermarket chains, co-operatives, transportation and storage providers to ensure food is not wasted and gets where it needs to go.

Non perishable items that are nearing their sell by date, but are perfectly fit for human consumption, some like olive oil, rice, pulses, tomatoes, UHT milk, that can be used for months but only have a short shelf life, can be put to good use. Fresh vegetables & fruit that are very ripe, can easily be passed to those who normally could not afford such fresh goodness – Bancosol ensures this happens.

During the summer we raised much-needed funds at our Family Fun Day, of which we presented to Bancosol – using their new promotion ‘Campana 100 x 6’  which enables with every 6 euros raised or donated a 100 kg of food can be transported, conserved and distributed. It enables Bancosol to offer even the most basic resources to those who need it most, which in whole benefits all society.

The day we visited. the warehouse had just received 1 of its 3 annual deliveries from the EU, my first question ‘why is the warehouse so full, when people are hungry ?’ answer, within 3 days all items would be distributed to the organisations that need it, and once again the warehouse would be nearing empty, awaiting generous donations from companies, supermarkets and individuals, in order so that they can carry on their work.

Our visit was captured in photos by Fred Shively – Thank-you Fred 🙂

It was a very humbling visit, that allowed us to see first hand the great work that is being done.  Work that often we don’t hear about,  rewarding also seeing where our money donated was being used directly into our community.

We never know what the future holds for us, we pray or hope we don’t fall into times when we can’t feed ourselves or family but knowing that Bancosol bancos alimentos , its volunteers, the caring organisiations, churches , hostals & individuals are out there is comforting to know.

 

Should you wish to donate or read more about Bancosol’s work you can visit their website here.

Or follow Bancosol on Twitter here.

Bancosol will now be La Rosilla’s chosen charity.