On the occasion of October 17, the International Day against Poverty, which is celebrated to draw attention to the growing problem of poverty throughout the world, the National Kitchen from Nikšić will distribute 30 food packages to the most vulnerable families from the town of Trebjes and 20 to families from Podgorica and Bara. The donations were provided by a Montenegrin family from Berlin, which is known for its humanity and charity, but also for its desire to remain anonymous, as well as young people from the diaspora.
"The whole last week was a sign of support for the most vulnerable and we are very grateful to everyone for their help. And this year, we all have the same desire - that the poverty rate be as low as possible in the coming period, and we will try to make sure that there are no hungry people," said Konstantina Vojinović from the NGO "Izvor života", an organization that opened in Nikšić in 2019 People's kitchen.
Although they would like the need for soup kitchens in Montenegro to decrease, judging by official data, that unfortunately will not happen quickly. According to the data of the Administration for Statistics (Monstat), 22,6 percent of citizens are at risk of poverty, which is about 140.000, and according to official data, about 50.000 citizens receive some form of social assistance. Vojinović points out that they are glad, bearing in mind the difficult situation in the country, that donors do not forget them, because thanks to them they can survive and provide meals and food packages to the most vulnerable population.
"As always, we received help from MI 'Goranović', an anonymous pensioner who donates half of his pension on this day every year from the day the kitchen opens, we secured potatoes for the next period, the company 'Agromont' supplies us with eggs, 'Red Comerc' fruit and vegetables. There are several other companies that insist on anonymity," said Vojinović.
According to her, the companies that help them are from Nikšić, Cetinje, Podgorica, Bar and Herceg Novi.
"We were visited by the students of the primary schools 'Milija Nikčević' and 'Ratko Žarić', which shows that children in our town are highly motivated by teachers and parents to be humane. An anonymous donor paid us 500 euros for electricity. We hope that the Electric Power Company of Montenegro will pay a little more attention to the problem of supplying electricity to registered soup kitchens in Montenegro and help them on an annual basis with a modest donation that would be great for all soup kitchens," said Vojinović.
According to her, the National Kitchen has prepared around 370 meals since its opening.
Bonus video:
