Situation Overview
After a successful pilot-project, which saw 3,500 meals delivered over course of 3 months in 2021. We were eager to enter a partnership agreement with Piedmont’s largest food bank catering to the homeless and less privileged individuals. Since Q2 of 2022, we’ve begun taking over all operations and costs for running the food bank once a month. This has led some of our volunteers to travel to Turin, Italy. The team partakes in various roles from packing the meals with plastic seals to distributing meal bags to guests of the food bank.
Each month approx.. 250 meals are provided by our partners and us to Turin’s most vulnerable members of society, sometimes the number can reach as high as 350 meals. We also have begun since 24 December 2021 an annual special delivery. Usually the food bank is closed and does not provide food during Christmas days. However, we have offered to provide 500 meals prepared by the kitchen of Cottolengo for the guests to have something to eat even whilst the food bank is closed. During the first Christmas, we had the newly elected Mayor of Turin and Director General of Cottolengo visit our Director of Operation Paolo Gheorghiu giving out meals to the homeless on Christmas day. We hope that this tradition of delivering special meal package continues for years to come.
Turin, Italy is the first real food bank which gave our association exposure to issues such as logistics, meal planning and field volunteer organization. After learning valuable lessons from our mobile food bank project in Milan, this experience in Turin combined with the support of Foundation Cottolengo, enabled us to open the two jointly run food banks in Ecuador. We now operate the largest capacity food bank in North Quito, read more here.
Feel free to contact our Director of Operations, Paolo at paolo@swiss-relief.org, if you have any questions about sponsoring, supporting or volunteering for this project.
Introduction
Swiss Relief is a charity organization that partners with Cottolengo’s Piccola Casa in Turin, Italy to provide 250 meals per month to vulnerable populations, including the homeless and low-income households. Swiss Relief provides funding for the meals and volunteers to assist with distribution, and has also started a new project focused on providing intimate clothing for homeless individuals who visit the Piccola Casa. In the past, the organization has collaborated with a field team and local restaurant to provide weekly assistance, but has scaled back this operation this year to focus on supporting Cottolengo’s kitchen and volunteers.
Food assistance
After a successful pilot project in which we delivered 3,500 meals over the course of three months in 2021, we entered into a partnership with Piedmont’s largest food bank. Since the second quarter of 2022, we have taken over all operations and costs for running the food bank on a monthly basis. Our volunteers travel to Turin, Italy to assist with tasks such as packing the meals in plastic seals and distributing them to guests of the food bank. On average, we provide 250 meals to Turin’s most vulnerable citizens each month, although the number can sometimes reach up to 350 meals.
In addition to our monthly food assistance efforts, we have also started an annual special delivery program on Christmas Day since December 24, 2021. On this day, the food bank is normally closed and does not provide meals. However, we have offered to provide 500 meals prepared by the kitchen of Cottolengo for the guests to have something to eat even while the food bank is closed. During the first year of this program, the newly elected Mayor of Turin and Director General of Cottolengo visited our Director of Operations, Paolo Gheorghiu, to help distribute the meals to the homeless on Christmas Day. We hope to continue this tradition of delivering special meal packages for years to come.
Community support
Community strengthening
Overall, Swiss Relief’s efforts to strengthen the community through its partnership with the food bank and its special annual delivery help to provide support and assistance to those in need, while also building connections and fostering a sense of community among those involved.
How can you make an impact?
This project in Turin, Italy would not be possible without the support of donors like yourself! You can make an impact with as little as 5 CHF to provide a warm two course meal to stranger who is struggling to get along. Show your support, make an impact in someone’s life today.
Situation Overview
Swiss Relief Association with the collaboration of Foundation Cottolengo, have launched two food banks in Quito, Ecuador which provide approx. 4,300 meals monthly to range of people varying from school children to adults. This has a significant impact on the North Quito community, as no other food bank in the neighborhood has such capacity. The primary food bank focuses on providing daily school meals, which secures children remain in school rather than going to find a job to feed themselves. Whilst our secondary food bank focuses on providing grocery supply bags to families twice a week. These efforts are made to create an positive impact on struggling families and individuals which cannot cope with the financial demands. Removing the financial strain on whether there will be a meal, allows them to focus on their education and peruse other opportunities.
This is our association’s flagship project which is expected to double the meals capacity by Q2 2023 to provide 8,600 meals monthly to wider pool of people within the community. Our Director of Operations, Paolo is in charge of overseeing the project with the assistance of project coordinator Deon. For more information either contact paolo@swiss-relief.org or deon@swiss-relief.org
How can you make an impact?
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