Catering for the poor in Kosovo and Metohija

Services catering for the poor in Kosovo and Metohija have for years been working in very difficult conditions and would not be able to survive but for help from individuals and associations. The aid of more than one million dinars, which the Football Association of Serbia recently sent to the village of Prekovac, near Kosovska Kamenica, the centre of catering for the poor in Kosmet, is very important for the continuation of work of such services. Snežana Milošević reports from Kosovska Mitrovica.

The Football Association of Serbia paid an amount of over one million dinars into the account of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which funds will be forwarded to six centres providing food for the poor in Kosovo and Metohija. The proceeds of a Serbia-Italy football match sufficed for the purchase of 11 tons of food and part of the sum has been allotted for the purchase of oil for aggregates without which one cannot do in Kosovo and Metohija in winter. The Football Association of Serbia immediately responded to the appeal of the  Eparchy of Raska and Prizren for extending aid to public kitchens catering for the poor in Kosmet, which are working under very difficult conditions, says the director for basic football in the Association,  who also announced that assistance would continue. In the next period, the Association will initiate numerous humanitarian drives and projects contributing to continuity in rendering help to public kitchens and their numerous users, who truly belong to the most threatened population categories in Serbia, said Janković. The public kitchens work under the auspices of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren and a humanitarian organization „Majka devet Jugovića“, founded by the Eparchy in 2000 and named after an epic female character from Serbian folk tradition and poetry, a mother of nine Serbian medieval heroes, is in charge of the kitchens. The aid given by the Football Association of Serbia is very important for public kitchens in Kosovo and Metohija, says the president of the organization, Svetlana Stević. We have used  680,000 RSD of the amount for the purchase of basic foods and will use the remaining amount of 400,000 RSD to purchase oil for aggregate plants, which are indispensable, as electricity in Kosovo and Metohija  is often off for hours. We, from the organization, and our consumers, whose only meal is in the public kitchens, hope that our cooperation, the common denominator of which is helping others, will continue in future as well, emphasized Stević.

The difficult economic situation, the rising unemployment rate and the dropping standard keep increasing the number of public kitchen users. It is therefore necessary that such humanitarian drives should be organized as frequently as possible to help those who are hungry and poor.

Source: glassrbije.org