Aïcha Hachemi is on deck every day, tirelessly. Despite his fragile health. The president of the association Elles aussi, which manages the Epicea solidarity grocery store in Créteil, mask on the mouth, prepares food parcels for families in need in the morning with volunteers.
The beneficiaries no longer enter the narrow structure, respecting the barrier measures. The baskets are given at the entrance. “Since the confinement, we have stopped the classic procedure,” said the activist on Tuesday. With this complicated context, families could not be left in a pain. ”
Thirteen new beneficiaries
And the needs are many. During the past two months, thirteen new beneficiaries have knocked on the door of the association.
“We provided occasional emergency aid to families we know, we also distributed nearly 80 kg of food to the home of young workers, rue Juliette-Savar,” adds Aïcha Hachemi.
In anticipation, the grocery store managed to store 300 packs of flour, “white gold,” she said. Epicea also buys from the Arcueil Food Bank, collects donations, and does not hesitate to draw on its cash to provide essential products. When masks are not made with the help of two or three volunteers to relieve this or that home.
Obliged to close three years ago for financial reasons, the grocery store had been able to reopen at the beginning of the year its pink room at Place Emmanuel-Chabrier, just behind the Lidl, thanks to the town hall of Créteil and the CCAS.
Pasta, flour, oil, fresh products but also fruits and vegetables and hygiene products such as diapers or shower gel … are normally placed on the shelves, available to “customers”. From now on, it is the volunteers who sort it out.
A social “boost”
Before confinement, Epicea already enabled 35 households in need to do their shopping, according to a well-defined procedure. These families, or single persons, chosen by an allocation commission, have access to the various products for three to nine months depending on the urgency and at lower cost 10% of the real price which are still indicated. “It is important that they keep the marks of real life. They remain customers who pay for their errands, and they can see the savings they realize, explains the president of the association. We are just a boost for people who need help over a short period of time. “
