A reunion! For the first time in 5 years, since the Covid crisis, the Calvados food bank has returned to its Christmas meal. Five charitable associations to which it provides food and some of their beneficiaries were invited to the Caen Congress Center to share a festive meal.
Elodie Touchais
A moment of meeting and sharing
This meal is an opportunity for the Food Bank and its volunteers to put faces to those who benefit from the food distributed to the department's charitable associations responsible for distributing it to them. And to get to know each other, there's nothing like a good meal cooked by two chefs from the Caen area, Stéphane Pugnat and Gilles Poudras, assisted by student waiters and cooks. The menu is tempting: seafood bisquine, poultry ballotins, cheese plate and Christmas logs. Marylène's mouth is watering. For 8 years, she and her husband have been eating thanks to the Argences solidarity grocery store. And it's another diet, based on pasta and chicken breasts, says this 66-year-old retiree who already knows she's going to enjoy it!
Elodie Touchais
A parenthesis in the daily life of these people in precarious situations
Being around a well-set table with tasty dishes is also a break offered to Muriel who lost her job after recurring back pain. Morale is up and down, recognizes this former cleaning lady who is having a hard time making ends meet. “It’s chaotic, I’m a very stressed person so it feels good to come and we forget.” The plates are emptied and tongues are loosened to Nana's greatest pleasure. A Georgian who has lived in Caen for 20 years with her husband, she sometimes suffers from loneliness, she says. “We don't have our family, our loved ones, our friends here. This meal is absolutely necessary so as not to be isolated” explains this exile, delighted to share this moment.
A similar meal was offered this Wednesday to associations and beneficiaries in Lisieux.
In 2023, the Calvados food bank helped 24,000 people.
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