You may recall back in November we held a music and supper evening at Pepe´s in Alcalali to raise funds for the Valencia flood appeal. We also added to this the funds raised at the November General Assembly and the proceeds from the Christmas dinner dance raffle. This was in addition to the shopping we purchased immediately after the flood from Goodwill funds which was kindly delivered for us by Project 4 All who were helping on the front line.
On what felt like the coldest morning so far this winter I met up with Arne Soeten, President of Project 4 All, on 10th December at 9am in the car park at Aldi, Moraira, to go shopping again for the people of Valencia.
As Arne arrived he had already collected donations. Apparently the law changed last year and supermarkets are required to donate their out of date products to good causes rather than destroy them. 2 Mas y Mas stores and 1 Consum store in Benissa and Benitachell donate theirs to Project 4 All and I can assure you the food all looked perfectly edible. So 6 days a week they can collect whatever is available. What a great initiative.
Also Café Cortado runs an initiative asking customers to fill a carrier with selected grocery items and in return they get a free coffee and cake. It was great to see lots of full carrier bags.
We spent 1500 euros in Aldi, 500e of which was our donation on this occasion from members. We bought everything from meat, veg, fruit, canned goods, bread, milk etc to chocolate for the children and filled 10 trolleys to bursting. 30 bags of apples, 30 loaves of bread, 30 jars of coffee, 30 packets of sugar, chicken, washing liquid etc…..30 of most items, and we joked with other shoppers that Arne loves his food!
Aldi were very efficient processing the bulk purchase. For someone who hates shopping it was actually fun!
It all then had to be sorted and packed into crates and loaded into his van ready for the trip and the van was full to the ceiling without a spare inch.
I gather when they arrive in the villages word quickly spreads and people start queuing, up to 200 or so families. They fill a carrier bag with an assortment of items, enough food for a family for a week. Not surprisingly coffee, sugar and chocolate are most in demand and we managed to buy lots of advent calendars at 60 cents each for the children.
As I left them some 2.5 hours later they were heading off. What an amazing thing for a charity to do and I am so proud that we are able to help. Thank you to you all for being so generous. Without your support we could not help in this way.
Every Tuesday currently they repeat this operation and provide over 150 families with food for a week. Sadly they often run out which I gather was the case on this trip after only visiting Paiporta.
We had money enough in our Valencia fund to support another trip which I presented to Arne on Monday 16th December ready for the Tuesday shop. Unfortunately I couldn’t go shopping again on this Tuesday as I had a date with Santa and the Goodwill girls at the school in Murla which we visit at Christmas with gifts for all the children. This time I believe it is either heaters and white goods they will be buying with our donation or more food.
Then they plan to help some families who have lost everything to re equip their homes completely with furniture, white goods, kitchenware etc. so if you have any unwanted items you can spare please let me know and we can deliver them.
I left feeling blessed and grateful for what we have and that there are amazing people like Arne in this world and our members for being so generous. I promised to help again and to deliver the rest of our Valencia fund so they can continue their great work. Arne sent his heartfelt thanks and huge hugs to everyone in our u3a Vall del Pop.