Secours Populaire du Gard is organizing an auction of 17 paintings on Friday December 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Spot in order to finance its actions with families in need.
A general association, Secours Populaire carries out many actions with deprived families, mainly food aid. And in a context of inflation, poverty is increasing and Gard is unfortunately not spared. In Gard, the association supports 15,000 people, half of whom are in Nîmes. “This is 10% to 15% more than in 2023, after which the number of beneficiaries is increasing in all associations like ours”notes Fabienne Lauron, general secretary of the Gard federation.
The aid is calculated in particular on the remainder of life. “We realize that it is increasingly weak for certain families. For the students, it's a disaster, we are close to zero. Before covid, we made 50 packages for students, today, we help 800 in Nîmes”details our interlocutor who also sees more and more single-parent families and retirees passing through. More beneficiaries therefore require more donations to be able to satisfy demand, which is still the case. Thus, beyond certain subsidies, this independent association lives thanks to donations.
A painting by José Pirès
So in partnership with the cultural association Les Contemporaries Parallels, a painting auction is organized on Friday December 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Spot. All funds will obviously be donated to Secours Populaire which has just launched its traditional Green Santa campaign so that each family can have a festive package for the holidays and a toy under the tree for the children. Here, the funds raised will be used in particular to send families on vacation during the summer, another major action of this association. Last summer, 150 Gardois went to Camprieu.
-For this auction, Secours Populaire can count on the generosity of Parallel Contemporaries who are donating 17 paintings. This Nîmes association was created twelve years ago by three painters, Jean-Marc Stetka, Albert Martin and Jean-Pierre Breton in order to take this art out of galleries or workshops to paint live in front of the public. Every first Friday of each month, an exhibition is organized at Ever'in to highlight the work of an artist.
In total, 15 painters participated in this operation, including two families of missing artists. That of the famous José Pirès, who died in 2020, and Maurice Laurent. “We are really touched by the solidarity, we share the same values”confide the representatives of the cultural association. An auction, an event that had not been organized for a very long time by Secours Populaire. The thousand volunteers in Gard hope that the public will respond to be able to continue the work of helping the poorest, which will continue to increase in the years to come.
