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Food banks help 5,000 more than at the end of last year NOW

Dutch food banks are currently helping 5,000 more than at the end of last year. This is an increase of an average of 5 percent, according to the organization on Friday. In total, 93,000 people are now being helped.

The growth was probably caused by the corona crisis, said spokesperson Pien de Ruig. “Last year we also experienced growth, but this is well above average. We clearly see a crisis effect.”

There are large differences in growth between the 170 affiliated food banks. Amsterdam especially stands out. There, growth of no less than 30 percent has been reported.

The capital is an “extreme case” because – just like at other locations – there are temporarily no intake interviews, De Ruig says. This is because the volunteers who conduct these conversations are at home and because it is difficult to have these very personal conversations by telephone. “And 1.5 meters away is also not ideal,” says De Ruig.

No more problems with volunteer deficits

The organization usually gets a lot of help from older volunteers, many of whom cannot help because of the coronavirus. This created a volunteer shortage, but now other people have flocked to the rescue.

The three distribution centers that were forced to close are fully operational again with the help of Defense and new volunteers. There were few donations for a while, partly due to the hoarding behavior in the supermarkets, but now there is enough food. It is expected that this will continue to be the case if more people turn to knock on the door for help.

According to the spokesperson, many people wrongly think that they are not eligible for food aid. Those who run into financial difficulties can get help if there is not enough money left for groceries and clothing at the end of the month.

“Some people think: I have a house for sale and so I cannot go to the food bank,” says De Ruig. “They don’t know we’re not looking at the ability. You can’t eat bricks.” She hopes that people ring the bell in time before they get into debt.

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