Solidarity initiatives and collaborations have been present during the year 2020 to combat the negative impact that the pandemic has had on vulnerable persons and families.
In the case of Som – Fundació, it has continued with the Pont Alimentari project, promoted by the Fundació Banc de Recursos, which has continued its growth in Barcelona with the incorporation of two new supermarkets of the Consume chain. The objective of this program is to facilitate the surplus of fresh food generated in their stores in order to reduce food waste.
During the past year, we had the collaboration of the following supermarkets:
- 1 of BonPreu
- 4 of Consum
- 1 of Condis
- 4 of Veritas
distributed in Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Cornellà de Llobregat and Sant Cugat del Vallès. A total of 17 people with intellectual disabilities assisted by the organization have been able to benefit weekly from the surplus of fresh produce generated by these supermarkets, contributing to the improvement of their diet and the reduction of their expenses.
On the other hand, the saturation of the Food Bank and the lack of more collaborating supermarkets have forced us to look for other alternatives to help cover the basic needs of the people we attend. In this line, we have relied on the Xarxes de Suport Mutu (Mutual Support Networks), initiatives that emerge from the citizens linked to the organizational network of the neighbourhoods. In our case, two users have received help from the Coordinadora de Veïns del Casc Antic to face the crisis situation we are living due to the coronavirus.
During the month of December, a person with intellectual disability that we support received a donation of a household appliance from the program Guanyem-hi tots, implemented by the Federació Catalana de Voluntariat Social, an initiative that manages the surpluses and stocks of companies and individuals destined to social entities.
Collaboration with these solidarity networks is very important for our organization because it contributes to cover some of the basic needs of the people we attend, improving their welfare.