Gran Recapte food drive gets eco and tech-friendly updates

The weather is slowly getting colder, and with the holiday season, come country-wide initiatives to help, those in need. One just started on Friday: Catalonia’s massive food drive, the Gran Recapte.

A big change in ten years

The 10^th edition of the event kicked off with high hopes: to surpass the approximate 5 thousand tonnes collected last year – a record amount since the initiative began a decade ago, in a small market.

And according to volunteer coordinators, this year is already looking good. Félix explained that “it’s better organized,” adding that he’d even say “professionalized,” all while keeping in mind that most who participate are volunteers.

Two new additions this year

As of this year, there are two big additions to the initiative. The first is that it’s now possible to donate online. The second is the use of reusable and recyclable shopping bags, distributed to shoppers. This, at the hand of volunteers, who are there to inform those who want to help, but might not know how.

Cristina, one of the blue-vested volunteers for the drive, said that “Here, with a little help, they can contribute with a bit of food, and we can take it, so that it then gets to as many people as possible.”  

200,000 people who are socially vulnerable

In total, there are 27,500 volunteers gathering food at the 2,500 drop-off points in markets and supermarkets throughout the country. The initiative is organized by the Food Bank of Catalonia, and the food collected will go towards helping the approximately 200,000 socially vulnerable people in Catalonia.

The best things to donate are oil, canned food, milk, and cooked legumes – as well as non-perishable basic items, like pasta or rice. If you want to help, it’s best to act quickly – the event will be over by Sunday.