The Écouen (Val-d’Oise) distribution center is the thirteenth and last in the Val-d’Oise department to have opened its doors just a year ago. “It came to respond to a growing demand for help in the region,” explains Marie-France Ligeret, departmental secretary of the association.
Indeed, between March 2022 and March 2023, 10,000 families were welcomed by the association in Val-d’Oise, i.e. 23,000 people to whom the equivalent of 2 million meals were distributed as well as 2,200 baby gifts. “And again, this was before the prodigious growth in requests that we have experienced recently,” insists the departmental secretary.
For its part, the Écouen center saw more than 80 families pass through this first year. “It remains a small center compared to that of Sarcelles and its 1,000 beneficiaries, but it allows people who live in the surrounding area to avoid those who are overloaded. Proximity is very important for those who cannot easily travel,” notes Michèle, a volunteer.
23 volunteers take turns every Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning
These premises bring together, among others, the population of Écouen but also of Ézanville, Villiers-le-Bel and Sarcelles which border the commune. The Saturday slots also make it possible to complete the network in the east of the department and to accommodate people who cannot travel during the week.
Here, 23 volunteers take turns every Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning to distribute food. The rest of the time they are also responsible for registrations, stock arrivals every Thursday, sorting clothes, etc. “They’re always the same people, loyal to the post from the start,” smiles Sylvie, another volunteer.
“Depending on the centers, the audiences are very different. In our area, we see few people who live in social hotels or students passing by because there are no colleges nearby. On the other hand, we receive a lot of families with financial difficulties, mothers who are raising their children alone and retirees who have very low incomes,” describes Marie-Laurence Auberger, managers of the Restos du coeur d’Écouen distribution center.
This is particularly the case for Philippe. Like every week, he came this Thursday to collect food for himself and his sister, who has a disability. Retired at 68, he has been registered here for eight months now. “I have worked all my life but my retirement is not enough to make ends meet, fortunately they are there to help us,” he says.
The association faces significant financial difficulties
However, not everyone will be so lucky this year. The launch of the Restos du coeur winter campaign scheduled for Tuesday, November 21 is this time accompanied by a certain bitterness in the ranks of volunteers and beneficiaries. While registrations have been open since November 6, the association has expressed the financial difficulties it has been encountering for several months.
“Even during the last summer campaign, we experienced an increase in demand of more than 30%,” notes Marie-France Ligeret. Faced with this influx of beneficiaries and despite the growing needs of the population due in particular to inflation and soaring energy prices, the organization announced in October that it had to take emergency measures. .
Stricter scale of access to food aid, reduction in the quantity of food distributed… “Before we took on more people in winter, but with the remainder of life revised downward, this will not be the case this year. And for those who still meet the criteria, we will only distribute four meals per person per week, compared to the usual seven,” laments Marie-Laurence Auberger.
Sophie is distraught over the restrictions
Sophie is one of the people who are suffering greatly from the latest restrictions. In a disability situation, this mother of two children who she looks after alone learned on the day of her re-registration that she no longer met the criteria and that she could no longer benefit from the association’s help. . “I didn’t expect it at all,” assures the mother, filling the last bag of food to which she will be entitled. I don’t know how I’m going to do it. These foods represented around 30 to 50 euros of savings per week. With inflation, the price of gas rising, and my two teenagers at home, this was an essential help for me. »
Behind the counter, the volunteers continue to carry out their mission in good spirits but stories like Sophie’s will never cease to sadden them. “We see more and more people going through terrible situations, but it still affects us just as much,” says volunteer Chantal. “We do what we can with the means we are given,” sighs her colleague Catherine.
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