While the 37th Restos du Cœur campaign opens this Tuesday, November 22, officials fear a jump in the number of registrants this winter combined with the resumption of the epidemic of Covid-19.
“This winter is going to be hard”
Health crisis, economic crisis, increase in energy and fuel prices: this year has been particularly difficult for the most vulnerable. More and more of them are registered with the Restos du Cœur to benefit from food distribution. But for Brigitte Cotte, responsible in Isère, it is this winter that the victims of this new precariousness go through the door: “I think this winter is going to be hard with all these increases in energy and the fact of no longer having state aid, I think we will see them arrive this winter!”
A feeling shared by the beneficiaries of the Nicolas Chorier center like Isabelle, a regular: “I noticed that there were new people. I’m a little worried because there are a lot of people who ended up on the streets. There are also people who could not pay for their electricity or gas consumption. People should understand that one day we are not going to get there. “
-20% of volunteers
And faced with the number of beneficiaries which continues to increase, the number of volunteers is decreasing. -20% at the time of the first confinement. The volunteers, often elderly and frail, sometimes feared for their health. Then the profile of volunteers has changed a bit, explains Brigitte Cotte: “At the time of the first confinement we had enormous help from students and also active people thanks to teleworking. When life resumed normally we lost these people. We are thinking about how to change the opening hours. centers. Open the centers at different times, in the evening, to allow people who want to volunteer and who are active to come and join us. “
Since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, the services offered by the Restos du Cœur have been limited to comply with health measures. At the Nicolas Chorier center in Grenoble: fewer moments of conviviality, we are often satisfied with the distribution of meals. And the biggest fear of those in charge is that the 5th wave of Covid-19 forces them to further shutdowns.