It has been a long tradition that the Bratislava Archdiocesan Charity is organizing a Christmas food collection in the autumn in cooperation with the Tesco stores chain. Throughout Slovakia, customers can buy and donate durable food or drugstore goods when shopping, and thus help people alleviate their difficult life situation. We also took part in the collection in the Tesco store on Kamenné square in Bratislava for the third time, where our volunteers helped organize the collection for three days and Doma u Kapucínov collected more than a ton of food and drugstore goods.
And what did the volunteers themselves say about the collection?
"The Tesco collection at this time was a challenge and an unimaginable event for many. For me personally, it was a great joy, a manifestation of solidarity, help and seeing that there are also people who need more in this situation than I. And last but not least, we created a pleasant community atmosphere with the volunteers, which was very enriching for me.
I was moved by more things during the collection. Many times people who have little themselves contributed. Retirees, homeless people, people who looked like they could be needing help themselves. The way they donated was also wonderful. A kilo of flour, a kilo of sugar, a few sweets and how much we managed to collect!
It could be seen on the volunteers that the corona took away their favorite activities. A volunteer, who helps in the store house, was happy to store the food in boxes. A volunteer, who can't talk to people the way he wants to, handed out half of our flyers in two hours. A volunteer, who has a marketing mind, walked around the entire floor of Tesco, where there are other shops and shop assistants had no idea that there was a Tesco collection. A volunteer who has a talent for making things better came right away and arranged our place to be more attractive and people would notice us. The willingness of every volunteer to come in this situation as well, to follow the measures and at the same time to talk to people and tell them about the collection, about help for our organization. The guys who helped stock the goods, transport them and unload them in the store house in the late evening.
It was wonderful to observe this community of donors and volunteers and to know that we are doing it for people in need. As a fundraiser, I coordinated this collection, but I feel that my job was just to observe it all and thank for being able to participate in this event in person, talk to people, thank them and connect for the Good in these days too.” Angie
"I can only comment positively on the Tesco collection. It was a very pleasantly spent time in a group of active people who are not afraid to face the rushing crowds of shoppers and thus fight for the improvement of the living situation of people in need. Raising awareness in this matter is crucial, as many have not yet heard of our collection. I really enjoyed this activity and I was pleased with every single smile that people returned to us.” Tomáš
"I joined the collection for the first time, I have not had a similar experience yet, and even at first I was afraid of how people would react and how to speak to them, in the end I had a very good feeling. And also from the way we were warmly received by you, the people from Doma u Kapucínov and also from the people, because there were really a lot of them willing to get involved and give something. And many times it was the people I was wondering if I would address at all... so I tried in practice how the first impression can be wrong:). So it was a very interesting experience for me and I am glad that I participated.” Barbora
