The number of shops involved in the food collection increases every year, and 2,100 stores have joined the current spring collection, 50 more than last autumn, said Tomas Prouza, head of the Czech Association of Trade and Tourism, which organises the collection with food banks.
“It’s only thanks to the fact that more and more volunteers are helping with the collection, reaching out to customers, picking out food,” Prouza said.
People can buy and donate foodstuffs to those in need in many shops all over the country.
Ales Slavicek, who heads the Czech Federation of Food Banks, said the food banks do not have enough non-perishable food at present.
The organisers called on people to help single parents and their children in need.
Slavicek said the food banks supported 25,000 new vulnerable people last year in the first six months of a new project operating in about 200 towns. Half of these people were single parents.
People may also join the collection by online shopping, from 9-23 April.
In the food collection, 4,860 tonnes of food have been collected in 11 years, equivalent to about 10 million meals. Last spring, 1,213 tonnes of goods were gathered within the collection, the highest amount so far.
