VZW Citoyens du Partage looking for new space | Brussels
BrusselsThe VZW was founded during the first corona wave for the distribution of food packages. During that period it was housed in Schaerbeek and the room ‘Aan de Waterkant’. But that location, intended for weddings, is resuming its activities. That includes Citoyens du Partage having to look for a new place.
NSB
“The room ‘Aan de Waterkant’ was made available to the City of Brussels,” explains chairwoman Hanane El Amranie. “We had 150 square meters of space there. But because there are weddings again, we have to look for a new location.” Time is running out: more than 7,000 people have already registered for the food distribution. “It’s about 300 packages every day.”
That is why the non-profit organization urgently needs a new home. “We are looking for a permanent place, of around 200 to 300 square meters. We would like to be able to receive people inside, so that they are less visible from outside. There is often a lot of stigma associated with poverty, which we want to avoid. We will also be happy to establish our agency. We have many files of the people who are registered with us, which must be kept safe.”
Cost of living
“And on the other hand, we also need more space to store our packages.” But food aid also turned out to be a problem. “We do receive pallets from other organizations, such as the Food Bank and the Red Cross, but that too is becoming more limited. Fresh products in particular are not easy to obtain,” explains El Amranie. “That’s why volunteers scour the markets every day to recover as much as possible.”
And the number of registrations keeps piling up. “Not all aid organizations are active during the summer. More and more people are coming to sign up with us. We receive residents from all Brussels municipalities, but especially from Laeken, Brussels City and Schaerbeek. Due to the increase in the cost of living, they end up in precarity overnight, they sometimes have to make the choice between eating electricity. That’s why we don’t want anyone, everyone has to be helped.”
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