Thousands of people in Alicante Province go hungry

PEOPLE working charity’s that provide food to people in Alicante Province are concerned about the repercussions of next year’s budget cuts.

More than 20,200 families in the Alicante Province are dependent on the food banks for food. This number has nearly tripled in the past three years.

In 2008, 8,000 households or 20,800 people visited the Alicante Food Bank, according to its president Juan Vicente Peral. This has increased to 20,200 families or 70,700 people, and there are no signs of this demand slowing down. With many people’s unemployment benefits coming to an end, there is the expectation that these figures will continue to rise.

“This year has been unusually good for the Alicante province because we have been able to distribute five million kilos of food, 60 per cent more than last year,” said Peral. “Things will be more difficult in 2012, because the governmental cuts could mean less will be allocated to NGO’s.” “I do not know if we will be able to maintain giving the same level of food for another three years.”

NGO Caritas San Nicolas project volunteers give out every morning “snacks and yogurt to homeless people, unemployed construction sector workers who have nothing to eat and elderly people with €300 pensions that does not cover their living expenses,” according to volunteer Antonia Llorens.

“It is difficult for homeless people to get out of the hole they have sunk into. Some sleep on the street, other on the beach and there does not seem to be a solution for them as they cannot find work.”

By Nicole Hallett

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