Rotarians don’t just donate money, they put in months of effort to raise funds to buy specialist equipment. The latest fundraising drive, initiated by Rotary E-club Porches International, produced the €24,000 desperately needed by the Food Bank to increase its effectiveness.
A spanking new electric forklift was presented to the Food Bank’s distribution centre in Portimão where it will speed up delivery and distribution, making operations safer as well as creating more floor space by stacking food containers.
Chris Garner from the Rotary E-club Porches International explained that the Manitou ME315 forklift had cost €24,000 including IVA - no tax dispensation from the State even though the Food Bank clearly is a non- profit organisation dedicated to the public good.
Goran Lünde, the club’s president, pictured above on the right of the image, introduced the event by highlighting the growing awareness of global food waste and the ever increasing need to support those least able to cope with the harsh realities of the recession across the Algarve. Some 4% of the population are reliant on food distributed by the Food Bank, he said.
The Food Bank, explained its director Nuno Alves, pictured above on the left side of the image and below, has a large distribution centre in Faro where previous fundraising by Rotary Clubs and Districts, both in the Algarve and abroad, had purchased a €43,000 chilled delivery vehicle in 2013.
Between them, the Faro and Portimão centres cover the Algarve as far as Alcoutim in the east and Vila do Bispo out west. Local organisations then divide and distribute food according to local need.
Food Bank staff visit these organisations twice a year to ensure they comply with the ethos of the Food Bank scheme and provide fair and hygienic food distribution.
Mr Alves said that the volunteers in each warehouse are an ever-changing sea of faces but all become great supporters of this essential service. Some are serving community service hours on the instruction of a judge and others are prisoners nearing the end of their sentences, allowed out on day release to give them valuable work experience and, perhaps more importantly, a connection between a well-run operation relying on the goodwill of donors and the hunger which the Food Bank helps alleviate.
Land for growing vegetables for the Food Bank has been set aside by the Ministry of Agriculture in Patacao, near Faro. Cultivation is carried out by supervised inmates from Olhão prison 15 kilometres away, turning their debt to society into practical form as they learn about agriculture as well as teamwork.
Claire Larson from the Rotary E-club Porches International explained that funding for the forklift had come not only from the events and activities they organised in the Algarve, which raised more than €9,000, but also from district grants from fellow Rotary Clubs in Germany and Texas, donating €1,000 and €2,000 respectively.
Abílio Lopes, from the Rotary Club of Tavira and representing the Rotarian District Governor, explained that the role of Rotary Clubs is to make grants for practical purposes and equipment, rather than giving money to worthy causes.
Uschi Kuhn represented the Almancil International Rotary Club, whose members had helped raise the funds needed. With her were six of her fellow Rotarians to support the handing over of the keys ceremony. She said they had been delighted to work with a neighbouring Rotary Club on the project which enables food to get through the distribution system quickly and safely.
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Food Bank - Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome, Algarve
