The appeal has been heard. Sunday, due to financial difficulties, the Restos du Cœur had announced that they would be forced to reduce the number of their beneficiaries this winter. Faced with this announcement, it only took a few hours for solidarity to be organized.
The Lydia kitty exploded its ceiling on Monday, with the donation from the Arnault family, who paid 10 million euros to Restos du Cœur. The owner of LVMH, world number one in luxury, has put his hand in his pocket to “actively contribute to helping a magnificent association of general interest which has been working for the most fragile, without stopping for nearly forty years”.
On Tuesday, several large companies followed suit. The giant TotalEnergies has “decided to make a donation of 5 million euros” to the Restos du Cœur “in order to help maintain the association’s level of assistance to the people it supports”.
The Restos du Cœur provide 35% of food aid in France
The Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale Foundation paid 7.5 million euros for the Red Cross, as well as 5 million for food banks, after having transferred an initial sum of 5 million euros to the Restos du Cœur last March. Altice France (SFR, RMC, BFM) has also launched several initiatives, in particular a “special operation to appeal for donations from its customers”, undertaking to “double the amount collected by donating 1 euro to the Restos du Cœur for each euro donated by its customers.
On Monday, the president of the Rungis International Market, Stéphane Layani, called on “all Rungis and wholesale market wholesalers to make or strengthen food donations”, recalling that “every year, charities that have access to the Rungis Market Rungis collect nearly 1,600 tonnes of foodstuffs, i.e. more than 3.1 million meals”.
The Restos du Cœur, which provide 35% of food aid in France, find themselves in the red due to the “very significant increase” in the number of people asking for help and an “increase in its costs operating “, due to inflation, explained Sunday Patrice Douret, president of the famous charity created in 1985 by Coluche. The Minister of Solidarity Aurore Bergé promised Sunday additional state aid of 15 million euros.