As of: March 28, 2024, 7:58 a.m
By: Lisa Metzger
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Being dependent on the food bank in retirement is something many seniors cannot cope with and prefer to stay away from. The Aischgründer Tafel now has a solution for this: anonymous packages should help.
Neustadt ad Aisch – It's actually a good sign when people stay away from the food bank. But Thomas Nicol from the Aischgründer Tafel had his doubts about this impression. “I noticed that very few old people come to us,” says Nicol. In conversation with a few people who finally stopped by, the chairman of the food bank found out what was really behind it: pensioners found it very difficult to visit the food bank. Too much shame to be seen by anyone.
Thomas Nicol, chairman of the Aischfounder Tafel, has launched an anonymous pensioner bag. Unfortunately necessary, he says. Because many pensioners have inhibitions about coming to the table. © Thomas Nicol/Aischfounder Tafel
A feeling that you can't just talk anyone out of, says Nicol. “We then thought for a long time about what could be done,” and in the end we found a somewhat unusual but effective solution: anonymous pensioner bags that are given out outside the regular opening hours of the food bank. Every Thursday, seniors in need can now go to one of the four distribution locations: Neustadt-Aisch, Bad Windsheim, Uffenheim or Scheinfeld. The largest distribution point in Neustadt-Aisch is also open on Wednesdays. Anyone who doesn't want to be seen under any circumstances has a lucky situation here: "From our back entrance you can go straight into a park." Disguised as a walker, you can go to the board inconspicuously, assures the chairman of the board.
Many pensioners are ashamed and hide their distress
Now poverty is nothing to be ashamed of. But the fear of being labeled is deep within many people, explains Nicol. There is still a lot of whispering, especially in rural areas. “The pensioners keep up appearances at all costs” – in some cases it is also “frightening what abysses open up”. Some would rather spend their last money on a coffee party with friends and then go hungry for the rest of the month. “Poverty in old age has long since hit its stride.”
There are now 1,000 people across all four distribution points – previously there were perhaps 500.
Thomas Nicol, 1st chairman of the Aischgründer Tafel
“That can’t be right,” says Nicol. After all, these people would have worked all their lives - and here they are. The general economic situation in recent years doesn't make it any easier. “I’ve been at the food bank for four and a half years,” says Nicol. Things were a lot more relaxed back then. He doesn't have exact numbers, he says, but the number of people in need has clearly increased. “There are now around 1,000 people across all four distribution points – previously there were maybe 500.”
After the anonymous seniors' packages campaign was made known by the media, inquiries about it literally poured in, says Nicol. “A number of people got in touch the next day and said that this was exactly what they needed.” What ultimately ends up in the anonymous package is decided by the Tafel helpers. Interested parties can use a form to indicate their wishes - “We use this as a guide when we put the packages together,” says Nicol.
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Anonymous delivery service is also possible
We even think about those who don't walk well or can't leave their own house. “Some of our food bank drivers have agreed to spend an hour to bring the package to these people too.” The package of their choice is then brought to them in an inconspicuous vehicle without a sign on the food bank. From the outside you can't even tell that it's a refrigerated vehicle.
How long can they offer the full service? Nicol and his team hope for the best. “Without the offer of the Tafel Bayern central warehouse, which we also rely on, and the great support from companies and the local population, it would no longer be possible,” says Nicol. In the past, people went to the central warehouse of the Bavarian food bank a maximum of twice a month, but now they do it every week. “The table has to constantly reinvent itself,” says Nicole. But if you can support people in need, it's worth all the effort.
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