Dutch families having a harder time affording groceries; Red Cross issues fundraiser
With the spiking costs of living, more and more Netherlands residents are struggling to afford their weekly groceries. The Red Cross is helping more and more people buy their basic necessities and launched a fundraiser to help pay for this aid. Food banks in Noord-Brabant have seen their customers increase so much that some may need to stop accepting new requests for help.
“We see that demand is only increasing after the summer, especially with the high inflation and now that people see their new costs rise. We keep getting more questions,” Red Cross spokesperson Nicole van Batenburg told NOS about the food support the aid organization started offering in the Netherlands during the coronavirus period.
Red Cross employees are hearing heartbreaking stories, for example, about a family of six with only 50 euros available for food or parents who don’t eat so that their children can, the spokesperson said. “People come knocking on our door and say that they really need help.” Because many people are ashamed of asking for help, the Red Cross thinks the need is even more significant.
The Red Cross gives the people they help a weekly shopping card of 17.50 euros that they can spend at supermarkets. The aid organization is also supplying breakfast to kids who have to go to school hungry. For food aid, the organization works with local contacts like community centers, which have more insight into who needs help.
The Red Cross opened fundraiser GIRO 881 to raise money for this type of support in the Netherlands and abroad.
Food banks in Noord-Brabant also noticed a sharp increase in customers this year. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, food banks in the province were helping around 4,900 households, Omroep Brabant reports. In October, that had increased to ver 6,000.
Martin de Kok of the food bank in Tilburg is very worried, he said to the broadcaster. “We fear we will have to stop accepting new requests for help, but we’re trying to postpone that moment as long as possible.” The maximum capacity at Tilburg is about a thousand households. It’s currently helping 870.
The food bank in Altena is also approaching its limit of 125 households, spokesperson Gert Schemers said. “We do see that the increase is much greater in cities. In villages, the threshold to go to the food bank is higher, but the social safety net is also larger here. If families are in need, neighbors or churches step in.”
The food bank in Breda is not yet thinking about halting new customers, Thijs Verhees said. “But maybe food packages will have to get smaller,” he said to Omroep Brabant. “As long as we have food, we will distribute it. The main question is how much food we have to buy if there are no longer enough donations.”
