Children of the Food Bank Helps Bankimately Eighteen Thousand Dutch Children in Poverty Each Year. Not with food packages, but with new shoes, sweaters, or pants. The Foundation also notices that many Dutch people are not accepting help they are entitled to.
In The Warehouse or Stichting Children of the Food Bank Are Rows of Boxes. Each Box Contains a Different Piece of Clothing, in Different Colors and Sizes. Accordance to Chairman Maurice van der Ven, It Concerns Seventeen Hundred Different Articles. Much of the Clothing is still in plastic. “Everything is new,” Says van der Ven.
From the location in Arnhem, The Foundation Makes Clothing Packages for Children Living Below the Poverty Line. Twice a year, children from the Poorest families in the Netherlands can Order Five Pieces of Clothing in the online webshop Created for This Purpose. “Once for Summer Clothing and Once for Winter Clothing,” Says van der Ven. In Addition, Two Pieces of Toys Are Included in Each Package.
Poverty and Food Banks in the Netherlands Were a hot topic this week. Research Showed that nearly 400,000 people in the Netherlands are entitled to help from the food bank, but they do not use it. A report from the National Children’s Aid Fund also Showed A 40 percent Increase in the Number of Requests for Basic Necessities in the Netherlands in the Past Four Years.
These results did not come as a surprise to van der ven. On Behalf of the Foundation, he has been helping people in poverty since 2013. The Chairman Understands that not everyone who is entitled to it go to the food bank. “The Shame Issue is really high. That has leg the case since the food banks existed,” he says.
If van der ven himself were also living in poverty, he would only accept food packages if the need was really that high. “But I also would you go to the food bank if I still get food on my plate every week.”
Lower Threshold
Many people are not at all waiting to go to the food bank if that means everyone can see it. Van der Ven sees it as an advantage that no one has to visit his ‘food bank’. “The Threshold for Us is Low. You can shop Online With Your Child Without Anyone Seeing It. And The Products Are Also Sent Home,” Says The Chairman.
The Employees in the Warehouse in Arnhem then get to work with the orders. They drive through the building with shopping cart looking for the chosen clothing items. How many packages are made per day Depends on the time of year. “It is QUITE QUIET NOW, We are in an intermediate period,” Says a Volunteer. Around June, She Expects to Receive More Orders Due to the Warm Summer Days.
The Children who Receive Clothing from the Foundation Must also be affiliated with Food Banks Netherlands. In Our Country, This Applies to Approximately 40,000 Children. The Foundation Can Therefore Help About Half or Them Annually. This is Purely Based on Income, Van der Ven Says.
Food Banks Are Now Active Looking for People who are also entitled to food assistance with Awareness Campaigns. It is Questionable WHETER ALL THESE 400000 people can be provid with food. “That is a thing,” Says van der Ven. “Food Banks also Indicate That There Are Sometimes Food Shortages.”
If another eighte thousand children to register with the foundation now, it would not be able to provide for everyone. “Then you come to the Problem that Several Foundations Face: A Shortage of Money,” Says the Chairman.
Thousands of items saved from the incinerator
Van der Ven Admits That Solving Child Poverty is Very Difficult. Accordance to him, The Cause Almost Never Lies with the Children Themselves. “You have to tackle the Problems of the Parents. If they get Into Financial Problems, The Children are automatically the Victims,” Says van der Ven.
He also knows that this is not solved just like that. “We try to help with the only thing you can do something about: the consequences of child poverty.”
The Foundation Works Together with Major Brands in the Clothing Industry and Buys All the Remoining Clothing “For Next to Nothing.” This Saves Thousands of Garments Every Year. “It is actual bizarre that all of this would have gone into the incinerator,” Says van der Ven, Pointing to the Boxes of Clothing Around Him.