Farewell to Hunger Queues in Alicante

For over 40 weeks, the scene has been a regular occurrence. Vulnerable individuals approaching the food distribution at Colonia Requena in Alicante to collect a pack to feed their children. It was right after the pandemic that the food bank in this Alicante neighborhood was established.

For more than two years, two hundred families with verified vulnerability have been able to put food on their tables thanks to these distributions in one of the areas of Alicante most at risk of exclusion. However, this August, this project will come to an end or at least change forever.

The food banks are part of a European Union project that has altered its operational model this year. Instead of distributing food, each family will now have a prepaid card with which they can purchase essential products at participating supermarkets.

This system change means that on August 31, the Colonia Requena food bank—in which the neighborhood association and other volunteer entities like Volk2 or Mensajeros de la Paz participate—distributed food for the last time to over 200 registered vulnerable families.

These entities, and others like them, have stopped receiving the food they used to distribute, thus changing their role moving forward. "This is an important change because it eliminates hunger queues and is somewhat more dignified," explains Volk2 volunteer Pepé Vicedo.

Cáritas Diocesana is also undergoing this transformation. Víctor Mellado, director of Cáritas Alicante, explains that it has been a gradual process over recent years and that those few parishes still distributing food have now made the transition as well. "The prepaid card system is more dignified because people can buy what they need, and it also solves other issues like transportation or having an excess of one type of food and none of another, making balance difficult."

From Colonia Requena, they also see another problem. "Of the 200 families we distribute food to, 150 meet the criteria for the prepaid card and 50 do not because they don't have children," Vicedo explains. For both those eligible for the card and those who are not, this entity is working on finding the simplest solution possible. They have met with the City Council to find the most efficient way for social services to process all cards without overwhelming the system.

"We are holding meetings with the Councilor for Social Welfare, Begoña León, with whom we have a very good rapport, to see how we can continue helping," explains Antonio Colomina, president of the Colonia Requena association.

This food bank does not want to abandon those 50 families or those referred by Social Services for emergency aid. These cases are the most urgent when a family runs out of resources entirely and the administration lacks immediate mechanisms to assist them.

For these families, they remain in contact with the Alicante Food Bank, although no longer associated with the European program, to distribute food depending on occasional donations and special campaigns like those held in supermarkets around Christmas. "Food distribution will now depend on these events, but we will try to reach families who come to the parish or ask if we can provide an emergency pack," Vicedo explains.

The Colonia Requena food bank has closed its doors but not entirely. The entities that have been dedicated for years to helping some of the most vulnerable families in Alicante will not stop altogether; they will just look for ways to reinvent themselves to continue supporting those in greatest need.