RS Express – Food For The Soul

From Greece to Bangladesh, dignity has always been at the heart of what we do, and a lot of the aid we give orientates around delivering food to those who need it.

Without food, there is no dignity. And without dignity, there is no hope. We know that dignity is an important part of being a human, and feel dignity needs to be on the list of mankind’s fundamental needs alongside food, water, and shelter. We believe it is the duty of every person with a full belly to help those whose stomachs are empty.

The world can feel a lot less daunting with a belly of hot food. So over the last few weeks, we’ve been focusing on food as a method of healing, preparing for the rough times ahead, and helping refugees in Cyprus get together as a community.

Feed the soul

We held our first “Let’s Eat” event last Sunday in collaboration with We Circle Collective, the Agora Project and Genesis.

“I can feel the love,” was one of our favourite comments from the evening.

The aim of this new, recurring event is to help refugees integrate with local residents, and to offer refugees a safe place to enjoy a hot meal with others going through a similar experience. The 200+ people who attended this first event we of all nationalities, including local Cypriots, which was incredible.

Our wonderful volunteers served over 200 meals thanks to our donors, and can’t wait to set the next date.

On Tuesday, in cooperation with Caritas Cyprus-Κοινωνία, we launched our new ”Breakfast Club” and served over 80 breakfasts. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. When many refugees are being forced to share a squat with up to 30 other people, a good meal is so important for strength and sanity.

The breakfast was a success, and on Friday, demand increased even more. Next week we shall run the club on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to try to ensure that no one misses out, and that we can do as much as we can to help people’s days get off to the best start possible.

Our first event wouldn’t have been possible without the kindness of one local supermarket, who donated all the bread we received for the event, and the eight incredible volunteers who helped to run it.

A huge thank you to the Caritas Center who are hosting the breakfasts, and are not only providing refugees with a space to eat, but with advice on gaining asylum . Caritas mens ‘love’ and the center certainly lives up to their name.

We will keep you posted about our next “Let’s Eat” event.

We have quite literally fed the five thousand at Refugee Support at times. If you’re interested in helping refugees in Cyprus and Greece, please check out our volunteer stories for more insight into what we do.