Thousands across the Czech Republic take part in charity food drive

Prague, Nov 21 (CTK) - Thousands of people across the Czech Republic participated in a charity collection of food and drugstore goods organized yesterday by the Czech Federation of Food Banks in support of those in need.

At 603 stores across the country, people bought mainly rice, pasta, and canned and other durable foods for the charity food drive.

Donors also contributed via e-shops, the organizers said.

The collected food will be distributed via food banks to single mothers, senior citizens, handicapped people, and other people in need.

Amid the coronavirus epidemic, the number of assisting volunteers dropped this year compared to previous years, and a contactless way of transferring goods was preferred.

A record-high 330 tons of food and 52 tons of drugstore goods were collected in the previous charity food collection last autumn. This year's results will be known on Sunday, Czech Food Banks Federation director Veronika Lachova said.

Since last year, the collection has been held twice a year, but this spring it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Lachova said that aid from food banks has recently been sought by more people than in the past. The new applicants are mainly those who lost their job due to the epidemic or have minimum income.

The collected food will not be enough to meet the demand this year.Food banks will have to buy additional food by themselves to meet demand, which had not happened in the past, Lachova said.

Food banks are also supported by the state. This year, they will receive 95 million crowns.

People could leave the goods they bought for charity at selected stores including Albert, Billa, dm-drogerie markt, Globus, Kaufland, Lidl, Makro, Penny Market, Rossmann and Tesco retail chains on Saturday.

Food packages can also be donated via the Tesco and Rohlik.cz e-shops through December 1.

This year's food collection was organized by the Czech Food Banks' Federation together with the Czech Confederation of Commerce and Tourism, the Association of Social Responsibility, and the NGOs Caritas CR, Salvation Army, Hope, and Silesian Diaconate.