Corona is making the poor younger and younger!

Tafel suddenly have a completely different audience

Created: 01/26/2022, 06:50

By: Katrin Woitsch

The Tafel give food to the needy.

More young people and single parents have been lining up for food donations since the pandemic began.

© Picture Alliance

The food donations of the Tafel have become even more important for many people in the pandemic.

The rush is great – and younger people are increasingly queuing, including many single parents.

The help of the Tafel sometimes even goes beyond food.

Peter Zilles has no figures - only his subjective impression. As state chairman of the Tafel in Bavaria, he is told from many regions how everyday food distribution has changed due to Corona*. About half of the volunteers report that more people are asking for food donations, he says. But he hears from almost everyone that there are now often significantly younger customers in the queues for the food service. "These are often people who have got into dire straits due to short-time work or the elimination of mini-jobs," he reports. "But also a lot of single parents who can no longer work full-time because looking after their children has become more difficult during the pandemic."

At the Munich table, the helpers noticed this at the very beginning of the pandemic *, reports Steffen Horak.

Suddenly, students were also queuing for groceries because their jobs had been lost.

In general, demand in Munich increased by ten percent during the pandemic.

Petra Bauernfeind from the Tafel in Erding notes that new customers come to the food counter almost every week.

You and the other helpers don't ask any questions.

"But it's striking how many young people are suddenly dependent on help," she says.

Corona has made customers of the Tafel in Bavaria younger – “more and more single parents”

It's similar in Starnberg*, reports Erika Ardelt.

“Some people tell us their stories,” she says.

"These are more and more single parents, for whom the situation was difficult even before Corona." The times of homeschooling in particular have made it more difficult for many single mothers or fathers to reconcile work and family.

"In those families that don't have a lot of money, it often fails because there is only one laptop in the household," explains Ardelt.

She and her team managed to organize some used laptops that they could donate to these families.

"The gratitude was huge," says Ardelt.

That's not always like that.

But the laptops were the salvation for some in a real emergency situation.

We depend on people donating money, food or their time to us.

Peter Zilles, state chairman of the Tafel in Bavaria

The price increases* are not only a problem for older people with low pensions.

A current You-Gov survey has determined that every ninth German can hardly pay his living expenses.

It's not just the panels that feel this.

Caritas Munich-Freising also reported that more and more people would come to serve food.

And the social counseling services are being sought out by more parents and single parents who don't know what to do because they don't have enough money due to short-time work or unemployment, said Caritas director Hermann Sollfrank.

VdK President raises the alarm!

“Many people are at risk of slipping into poverty”

The VdK President Verena Bentele is also alarmed.

"Many people are at risk of slipping into poverty," she says, and calls for the VAT on fresh, healthy food to be reduced as much as possible and the standard rates for Hartz IV and basic security to be raised so that housing, electricity and heat remain affordable for everyone.

"Most people are very ashamed," reports Bavaria's Tafel chairman Zilles.

Especially among the elderly who are rooted in their communities.

"They don't want to be recognized in the queues in front of the food distribution." But they can't do without the food donations either.

Corona: Tafel in Bavaria is struggling with large crowds and fewer and fewer volunteers

So far, the board has managed to cope with the greater rush and the greater effort due to the hygiene measures.

In Fürstenfeldbruck, the helpers even deliver groceries if they know that their customers belong to the risk group and are very afraid of a corona infection *.

At the same time, however, the teams also have to compensate for the fact that some helpers have left.

Most of the volunteers are of retirement age – and belong to the risk groups.

However, some teams have also recruited volunteers.

For example the panel in Erding*.

"We are now supported by three young flight attendants," reports Bauernfeind.

At first they were on short-time work and had more time – now they help when they have time off.

Such feedback makes Peter Zilles cautiously confident.

"We are always dependent on people who donate food, money or time to us." He does not expect that the number of people whose income is not sufficient for food will decrease anytime soon.