Gran Recapte food drive kicks off with small businesses now taking part
Organizers estimate €10 million of donations necessary to meet food bank demand
The 13th ‘Gran Recapte’, Catalonia’s annual weekend-long food drive, got underway on Friday morning.
New this year is the addition of small and local businesses taking part in the event, added to the supermarkets that traditionally participate.
Organizers hope to raise €10 million worth of donations, through both foods as well as financial contributions.
Coming out of the pandemic, a new app has been launched to allow people to donate digitally, with money given being spent on extra food supplies.
The ‘Gran Recapte’ app will allow donators to help out in small and local businesses by giving money through the mobile payment devices of the store staff.
Once the campaign is over, the different types of products most needed are purchased with the donated funds at whichever store where the donation was registered.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Catalonia’s food banks have helped 267,000 people. The ‘Gran Recapte’ food drive is one of the fundamental events that helps deliver rich and nutritious food to those in need across the country.
In 2020, a total of 29.3 million kilograms of food were delivered by the food bank, of which 5 million were collected during the ‘Gran Recapte’.
Last year saw €7.8 million collected, a “splendid” figure according to Lluís Fatjó-Vilas, director of the Catalan food bank.