Charity fridge accepts food donations in Valmiera

Benefits of responsible consumption and social awareness

This week, the municipal website of Valmiera informed local residents that there is a new way to help those in need in their city. They can now place any extra or unused food in a refrigerator located in the building foyer at 26 Stacijas Street. The device is operated by the local Christian Charity Center – an organization that also manages a soup kitchen nearby.

Naturally, strict hygienic rules need to be observed

The Christian Charity Center was founded in 2005 and has since then established a good rapport with the Valmiera municipal administration in the field of providing support and welfare services to low-income citizens and children in the Latvian city.

As mentioned above, they are running a soup kitchen but also a shelter room and a day centre for children. Their newest innovative idea was the placement of the food exchange refrigerator in order to facilitate both donors and recipients and also to allow for the donation of perishable products.

The fridge will be available during working days between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. It was reported by the website that currently the most popular items are vegetables, bread, tea and cookies.

Its proximity, however, to the soup kitchen is not random. That allows for any unused food cooked in the kitchen to also be placed in the fridge by volunteers, and vice versa, if they see that there are products in the fridge that might expire soon they can take them to the kitchen to be cooked.

The charity organization calls for strict observation of hygienic rules, and even more so during the current epidemic. That means no placement of expired or spoiled food in the fridge, home-cooked food, partially eaten and opened packaging. Furthermore, masks and hand disinfectant must be used – for this purpose there is a dispenser at the entrance of the building.