– It gets busy when it’s on, says Amanda Nilsen Ervik. She is project manager for the food distribution at Caritas in Trondheim. Together with a team of volunteers, she is now in full swing with the weekly distribution. On this day, 215 food bags will be distributed to the homeless and people from asylum reception. But it’s not enough. – There is a lot of progress. We notice that especially those who live in reception are dependent on the food they get here, she says. Project manager Amanda Nilsen Ervik tells of the high volume of food deliveries. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Glad for the help The project manager has no doubt that the increased food prices are of great importance. – Over the summer, when we had closed down for a period, we noticed that people had become thinner, she says. – It’s a bit scary when you see it so clearly that they are dependent on the help we provide. Ulan Medetbekov is happy about the help he and his family are getting. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news One of those who is grateful for help is Ulan from Kazakhstan. – We need this food, because the money is not enough. The meat is very expensive here, and we spend the money on it. So here we get some other food that is good and healthy, he says. Those who receive food this week have been paid between NOK 1,000 and 2,000 each month. Due to the large demand, Caritas has had to raise the list of who gets help. – I have children, and it is a big problem that we have no money. This helps, says Mirabella Calderaru, who spends a lot of time on the streets trying to collect money. Mirabella Calderaru was one of those who received a food bag from Caritas in Trondheim this week. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Marina also boasts about the help. – I have a mother who has come to Norway from Kharkiv. She is 86 years old. I bring it to her, and mum is very happy, she says. But not everyone gets the help they so badly need. People are starving Caritas in Trondheim has reached capacity. And if this trend continues, the project manager is not sure what to do. – The food center from which we collect food also has many more requests now, so the warehouses there are starting to run out. And then I don’t know how people will get enough food to survive, she says. Each week food bags are distributed from Caritas in Trondheim. This week there were 215 bags that went to homeless people and people living in asylum reception centres. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Ervik tells of families where the adults stop eating in the last week before payment. The little food they have is given to the children. – I would probably call it that they are starving, yes. In autumn and winter, she expects the situation to get even worse. – We’ve had consistently great demand since we started three years ago. But now we notice that people are a little more desperate when they ask for food. Far from enough Marte Lønvik Bjørnsund at Food Center Trøndelag is also worried. – The organizations report greater needs and more desperate stories from those who need help, she says. Marte Lønvik Bjørnsund is the general manager of Food Center Trøndelag. She wishes they could offer much more than they already do. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news The food center supports all charitable initiatives that help the disadvantaged, and collaborates with around 90 organisations. – It’s a bit despairing. We at Matsentralen can only do so much. We are at the mercy of the surplus food that occurs in the food industry. We wish we had much more to offer, but it is not enough – despite the fact that we have had a 30 per cent increase in the first half of this year. Bjørnsund says that they distribute between 50 and 80 tonnes of food a month. But it is far from enough. – We could distribute 50 percent more. Big responsibility At Caritas, project manager Ervik is critical of the fact that the voluntary organizations have been given such a big responsibility. – It was intended that this should be a supplement, but it does not work as a supplement when people are dependent on the food they receive. She believes that the State must ensure that the citizens have enough to eat – and that people in Norway will not starve. – There are many voluntary organizations like us, but still it is not enough, says the project manager, who has several times had to say no to people who stop by and ask for food. Caritas in Trondheim is critical that the voluntary organizations have been given such a large responsibility. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Not surprised Mayor of Trondheim, Rita Ottervik, is not surprised by the increased demand. She describes it as a consequence of development. – Prices are increasing sharply. It is the case that more people are in work, but at the same time many refugees have arrived who are currently on very low support schemes. She points out that the municipality’s most important responsibility is to get the refugees settled and into work. That Caritas is critical of the great responsibility they have been given as a voluntary organisation, Ottervik has the following comment: – Here the municipality can certainly do more, and we must have a dialogue with those organizations about how we will face the autumn and winter. Mayor Rita Ottervik (Ap) is not surprised by the development. Photo: Morten Waagø / news
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Caritas is concerned about greater rush and desperation when delivering food in Trondheim – news Trøndelag
