More and more meals distributed and more and more beneficiaries. The 37th Restos du Cœur campaign is officially launched this Tuesday, and nationally, the figures are unfortunately increasing. Over the past year, 142 million meals were distributed, more than the year before, 136.5 million. The number of people accommodated in Resto also increases, from 875,000 to 1.2 million beneficiaries. On France Bleu Saint-Étienne Loire, we invite you this Tuesday to push the door of the departmental warehouse of Resto du Cœur, where food is stored before being distributed to the 16 distribution centers of the Loire department.
Preserves and frozen products
Inside, everything is organized a bit like in a supermarket. Each product has its own location. “We have a listing with the list of products intended for the different distribution centers“, explains Bernard, who with his two colleagues prepares Roanne’s pallets. In addition to pasta, rice or flour, there are also fresh products. “Yogurts, vegetables and even frozen foods“explains Christophe, the warehouse manager.
– Tommy Cattaneo.
About forty pallets per week just for the center of Saint-Étienne
“It’s always a bit of a race at the start of the week, since in addition to preparing the pallets for all the centers, we also load them onto the trucks that come to pick them up.“, continues Christophe. No time to finish the interview, a truck begins to reverse in the warehouse. The vehicle is provided by the City of Saint-Étienne and collects some of the pallets intended for the distribution center located rue Croix Courette. “In the middle of winter, we turn around forty pallets per week“, explains Philippe, a Saint-Etienne volunteer.
– Tommy Cattaneo.
All the centers in the department do not receive as much, it depends on the number of beneficiaries. They are 5,000 in Saint-Étienne alone. Less than 20 minutes after its arrival, the truck leaves and another replaces it almost immediately. In all, nearly 14 tonnes of food leaves the warehouse each week.
– Tommy Cattaneo.