PARTNERSHIP. 2,550 basic baskets from “Rio Grande do Sul Against Hunger” arrive in Santa Maria and the region

By Tiago Machado / From the Press Office of Deputy Valdeci Oliveira

Santa Maria and eight other municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul (almost all in the Central Region) received, this Thursday (April 25), the first batch of food kits organized by the Rio Grande Movement Against Hunger and financed with resources from the Legislative Assembly of RS . At this stage, 2,550 basic food baskets were allocated, all assembled with products from family farming.

The foodstuffs will benefit families in situations of poverty and extreme poverty in Santa Maria (1,600 baskets), Faxinal do Soturno (100), Jaguari (100), Tupanciretã (220), Agudo (100), Capão do Cipó (100 ), Dona Francisca (100), Júlio de Castilhos (130) and Quinze de Novembro (100).

The purchase of food was carried out by the State Department of Social Assistance, a body that is part of “Rio Grande Contra a Fome”, and the collection, identification of families and organization of delivery of the kits to beneficiaries is the responsibility of the city halls of the municipalities served.

“It is an important response from a great partnership made by the Rio Grande Against Hunger Movement, the Legislative Assembly and the State. The fight will continue so that the people who need it most have access to concrete and effective public policies. With this, we managed to achieve two objectives: strengthen the fight against food insecurity and support our family farmers, who suffered a lot with the drought and heavy rains”, stated the state deputy Valdeci Oliveiracoordinator of Rio Grande Contra a Fome, during the delivery of the baskets.

Food distribution will be carried out throughout the first half of this year in the nine “Functional Regions” of the state (Porto Alegre, Santa Cruz do Sul, Caxias do Sul, Capão da Canoas, Pelotas, Uruguaiana, Santa Rosa, Santa Maria and Passo Fundo ) and will cover all municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, totaling 75,881 food baskets. In addition to the delivery of baskets by municipalities, kits will also be distributed via the assistance entities selected for the task.

The delivery of the kits took place at the headquarters of the Central das Cooperativas de Agricultura Familiar (UNICENTRAL), in Camobi, and, in addition to Valdeci, it was also attended by the state secretary of Social Development, Beto Fantinel; of the municipal secretary of Social Development, Leonardo Kortz; and the director of the Department of Food and Nutritional Security of the State Secretariat of Social Assistance, Naiane Dottoamong other authorities.