The Social Giving of the Farmers’ Markets during the pandemic

Extremely important has been the contribution of the farmers’ markets of Athens and Thessaloniki, through Boroume, to the work of dozens of charitable institutions, during the period March-October 2020.

During the pandemic, despite the adverse working and operating conditions, traders of the farmers’ markets who cooperate with Boroume offered more than 59 tons of surplus fruits and vegetables for people in food insecurity. In this way they showed once again the social sensitivity and the solidarity of the farmers’ markets. This amount corresponds to tens of thousands of portions of food that were not lost, but were offered to people in need.

The Boroume volunteers who contributed to the collection of the above quantities expressed their joy and satisfaction for the generosity and positive response of the traders to the work of Boroume. In turn, representatives of non-profit organizations receiving these food donations expressed their gratitude for the valuable and lasting support.

Indicatively, Ms. Sabina Serpieri, Head of Public Relations of the Hospice for Neuro-disability, states about the support of the Panormou farmers’ market:  "We have been cooperating for a long time with the Panormou farmers’ market and we are very grateful for their giving and solidarity. Especially during the pandemic, the fresh products we received were a great help for the provision of nutritious food for the 150 patients cared for by the Hospice for Neuro-disability. We hope and wish to continue our excellent cooperation for a long time to come ".

Father Athanasios from the church of Agia Marina in Toumpa says:  "The Soup Kitchen of Agia Marina has been operating for 56 years with the aim of keeping the commandment of love given by the Lord to his disciples, feeding our brothers in need. Our effort has these positive results thanks to God's providence and your help. We thank from the bottom of our hearts those who help us in our action and we wish for God’s reciprocation".

Ms. Chryssa Anagnostopoulou, from "Faros Elpidas" notes:  "We would like to express our warm thanks to the farmers’ market of Moschato traders for their generous and selfless support. The food we receive is either cooked in the Soup Kitchen of the Municipality of Moschato-Tavros (Faros Elpidas is responsible for its operation) or distributed to the hundreds of beneficiaries we take care of. Our visits to the farmers’ market mean a lot to our work as the produce offered by the farmers’ market are the only ones we can procure and so get to offer something more to our people. The offer of the farmers’ market gives us strength to continue our work and to support those in need ".

Even in this difficult period for all of us, we at Boroume can be filled with optimism knowing that we have partners with increased social sensitivity, who perform actions with multiple effects through our collaboration. Partners who offer leftover food by supporting people in need, while taking care not to waste usable food and not to burden the environment.

Keeping this feeling of optimism in these very extraordinary and difficult times, we express our belief that our excellent cooperation with the farmers’ markets will continue and will expand even more in the future!