Annual nationwide Food Bank campaign collects 140 million kilos

• Second annual Food Bank collection gets over 135 tons of donations in the Campo area
• 1700 Campo de Gibraltar volunteers helped exceed expectations

ALGECIRAS (Cádiz) The second edition of a national annual foodstuffs campaign was a resounding success this year. Held throughout the country over three days last weekend and organized at local levels by several different groups coordinated by the Banco De Alimentos Foundation, the total collected came to over 140 million kilos to be distributed among the needy. In the Campo de Gibraltar area alone there were some 30 collection points, principally at supermarkets where you were handed an empty plastic bag as you went in and asked to do the best you could.

It took just over 1700 volunteers to make this a local record -- most other areas also showed records -- who not only stood for hours at the supermarket entrances, but also spent most of the following day counting and classifying the haul.

The  groceries most donated were staples such as cooking and olive oil, rice, flour, legumes, etc. Fresh food was not accepted as storage would have been a problem.

In the Campo de Gibraltar, whose collection was carried out by Cáritas, has two large storage facilities in Algeciras, from which weekly transportation is made to the organization's several distribution points throughout the area.