Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1313317
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 NOVEMBER 2020 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA AT the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lifeline Foun- dation was assisting on average 700 families per week, foodbank manager Barbara Caruana re- vealed as the charity gets ready for its annual Christmas drive to provide essentials for impover- ished families. Now at a transitional location in Paceville, the Lifeline Food- bank is preparing for a final move to Marsa after having out- grown its premises in Valletta. Caruana said that during April, May, and June – when Malta was in partial lockdown due to COVID-19 – there was a nota- ble increase in families request- ing assistance. "During this time, we were feeding on average, 700 families per week. This has gone down considerably now in No- vember to 300 families per week. However, we expect numbers to increase again with the Christ- mas season looming." Caruana said that before the pandemic, the Foodbank was serving around 100 families per week – making the increase of families who resorted to the bank an unprecedented six-fold increase. "Now, as we head into the winter months, we are also going to start seeing the long- term effects of COVID." The Foodbank was set up back in 2015 after an individual was seen rummaging through bins in Valletta. The people the Foodbank services are work- ing people who for one reason or another still are unable to be financially independent. How- ever, they have also had people who are unemployed, some even sleeping in cars. According to the European Statistics on Income and Liv- ing Conditions survey, 82,758 people were at risk of pover- ty in Malta in 2018. That year, the average household income was €34,627, and the average disposable household income was estimated at €28,505. The survey found that the number of persons living in households with an income below the at- risk-of-poverty line (€9,212) was 82,758. This translated into an at-risk-of-poverty rate of 17.1%, or 0.3% points higher than that recorded for the previous year. This has only been made worse by the pandemic. "The whole world is struggling, so Malta is no exception, and that is where we are trying out utmost to help and be a bit of relief for these families," Caruana said. During the height of the pan- demic, in May and June unem- ployment peaked at 4.2% – over 11,496 were unemployed. That figure has since dropped slightly, and in September, the rate of un- employment was 4%. The most affected group was men aged be- tween 25 and 74. 10,731 persons were unemployed in September. Caruana said that people who were struggling could reach out to the Foodbank through a so- cial worker. "People can contact Caritas, Appogg, YMCA, and others and they will then be re- ferred to us," she explained. The Foodbank also receives refer- rals from mental health clinics, Mount Carmel Hospital and from the oncology unit at Mater Dei Hospital, among others. Caruana said that this year, the Foodbank had already handed out 12,000 packages so far, and prepares around 80-100 bags per week. This year, for the fifth year in a row, the Lifeline Foundation is running a reverse advent calen- dar. "What we ask is that during Advent, during this time leading up to Christmas, people think about others who don't have the type of Christmas they have, and we ask them so that each day, Foodbank provided for 700 families every week in pandemic "During this time, we were feeding on average, 700 families per week. This has gone down considerably now in November to 300 families per week. However, we expect numbers to increase again with the Christmas season looming." Lifeline's Foodbank prepares around 80-100 bags of food per week, as it prepares for its fifth Christmas providing relief to those in need