Food Bank Collects Over 240 Tons of Donations

A total of 241 tons of durable food were collected by shoppers in the 17th Christmas fundraising campaign of the Hungarian Food Bank Association from Friday to Sunday in 334 stores in 160 settlements of the country with the participation of 6,500 volunteers.

The need for people's help has perhaps never been greater than this year. In an increasingly difficult economic climate, the number of people in need is growing by the day, and the organizations supporting them have been working flat out for months. Yet they themselves are facing increasingly bleak prospects as a result of the rising cost of utilities and fuel, which is making their work impossible, the Food Bank said in a statement sent to the state news agency MTI on Tuesday.

As they pointed out, a total of 241,231 kilograms of durable food had been collected, of which 48,246 food parcels of five kilograms each are made, so the amount needed to assemble 30 parcels per minute.

The packets usually contain flour, sugar, pasta, rice, canned goods, oil, long-life milk, sweets and, where appropriate, baby food. By weight, dry pasta was the most donated item, totaling 47,925 kilograms, but there was also a good amount of tinned food, rice, long-life milk and sweets.

Thanks to the generous donations, the Food Bank will support 48,000 needy individuals and families this holiday season.

Although the amount of donations did not reach last year's record, the number of people willing to help has not decreased, but at most their possibilities, the Food Bank said.

The statement said Tesco will match shoppers' donations this year. The company will offer 20% of the value of the food collected in its stores, HUF 22.5 million, in the form of a cash donation, which will also contribute to the Food Bank's year-round food rescue work.

Shoppers directly helped people in need in their neighborhood. The food parcels will be distributed to people in need in the weeks leading up to the holidays and throughout January, in cooperation with charitable organizations in the neighborhood of the participating stores.

The donations will mainly benefit the elderly, large families, people in family services and children's homes, people with disabilities, the homeless and people living in the country's most deprived communities.