RED CROSS’S SOUP KITCHEN IN BUJANOVAC CONTINUES TO OPERATE

27. January 2017.

Bujanovac – Due to prolonged snow, ice and freezing temperatures during the winter, the Red Cross Office in Bujanovac, in cooperation with the Red Cross of Serbia, is considering the possibility of prolonging the operation of the soup kitchen for another month.

"Under the soup kitchen’s program, the soup kitchen is to operate for nine months. This is the period when beneficiaries of the soup kitchen are not able to obtain vegetables and other food items that are available during the spring and summer months. Given the current severe weather conditions, we, with the assistance of the Red Cross of Serbia, strive to provide the conditions for the soup kitchen in Bujanovac to continue operating during this April, too "said Bratislav Lazarevic, the Secretary of the Bujanovac Red Cross Office.

He said that 1,200 cooked meals were prepared at the soup kitchen every day, while each cooked meal included half a liter of cooked food and half a bread-loaf. Apart from the food distribution point located on the premises of the Red Cross, the food is also distributed in the village of Veliki Trnovac, in Novo Naselje and at the food distribution point “Salvatore” in Bujanovac.

"In addition to ten basic food items provided by the Government of the Republic of Serbia, we from the Red Cross in Bujanovac provide ten more food items, even though we haven’t received the necessary funds for it from the local self-government’s budget. Bujanovac is the only municipality in Serbia that does not financially support the operation of the soup kitchen, "Mr. Lazarevic said.

The materially disadvantaged persons in other local communities in the municipality of Bujanovac, where there is no distribution of cooked meals from Red Cross’s soup kitchen, haven’t been forgotten, either.

Through leaders of the local communities, 800 food packages, and as many packages containing hygiene items, were handed out to socially disadvantaged, elderly and single-person households at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year.

Over the past few days, the Red Cross was sending aid to the households under snow situated in the mountainous borderline parts of the municipality of Bujanovac.

Source: Bujanovac News and Coordination Body