150,000 people will soon no longer be able to benefit from aid from Restos du Coeur. In financial difficulty, the association has resigned itself to reducing the number of beneficiaries of their food aid this winter, its president said on Sunday. “Today, we are not strong enough to absorb the flow of people who need food aid,” Patrice Douret, president of the association created in 1985 by Coluche, told AFP. “If nothing is done, we could have to close within three years”.
The Restos du Coeur find themselves in the red due to the “very significant increase” in the number of people asking for help and an “increase in its operating costs”, due to inflation.
A budget for food purchases that has doubled
Guest of the TF1 TV newspaper on Sunday, Patrice Douret launched “an appeal to the political and economic forces of our country” for the “launch of an emergency food plan”. “We are not heard enough or taken seriously enough […] but the dikes are giving way, ”said the association manager on TF1.
The association has already welcomed 1.3 million people in 2023, compared to 1.1 million for the whole of last year. And in recent months, its budget for food purchases, then redistributed free of charge to beneficiaries, has “doubled”.
Review of the amount to be eligible
Faced with this “extremely complex” situation, the Restos du Coeur have decided to reduce their number of beneficiaries. “It’s really heartbreaking, but we’re going to have to massively say no to people we could have taken in before inflation and we’re going to have to reduce the amount of what we give to people who meet our criteria,” detailed Patrice Douret to AFP. He estimates that around 150,000 people will have to be turned away.
The association, which expects to serve 170 million meals this year compared to 140 million in 2022, provides regular aid to people in need, depending on how much is left to live. Its amount to be eligible will be revised downwards, said Patrice Douret, without giving specific figures.
Call for the mobilization of political and economic forces
Despite this measure, the association needs an additional 35 million euros to end the financial year in balance. “We are calling for a massive mobilization of the political and economic forces of this country to help us cross this course,” said Patrice Douret, who also expressed his anger. “We have been alerting the government to this situation for months, we have not been heard enough. »
The Restos du Coeur, which provide 35% of food aid in France, have an operating budget of approximately 200 million euros per year. Resources that come from private donors, companies as well as public aid from the State and the European Union.