Andorra la Vella, Thursday 28th March 2024. Through the MenjAND Solidari program, promoted by the bid for the Alpine World Ski Championships Andorra 2029, a total of 230 nutritionally healthy meals were delivered to people in vulnerable food situations. The charitable initiatives carried out between Càritas Andorrana (the Andorran Charitable Institution) and the Food Bank of Andorra, an entity that oversees and has direct contact with groups of people in complex economic situations, have been divided into collaborations on three different dates including Christmas and Easter. Taking advantage of the home stretch of the ski season and the run-up to Easter, the catering team for the Soldeu El Tarter sectors in the Grandvalira ski station prepared the meals that consisted of a vegetable stir-fry, beef and soya, pork loin with a parmesan sauce and foie gras, and cod with ratatouille and sautéed rice on this occasion. As explained by Àlex Orúe, the instigator of the project, member of the technical team for Andorra 2029 and catering manager for Grandvalira SETAP365, “One of the objectives within the bid’s sustainability plan is to put on activities that have a societal impact on a local level such as the fight against waste”. In this way, he explained, "what we do is calculate the potential surpluses of raw material that we expect to have in the ski station at the end of the season and we produce complete dishes for the families most in need to enjoy". In fact, the initiative consists of two stages: today, the meals were delivered, and when the ski station closes for the season raw ingredients will also be donated to be used by those people in need.
For his part, the Director of Sustainability for Andorra 2029, Víctor Torres commented that “we work with entities that offer social services, who know people who are facing adverse circumstances, and this makes it easier for us to reach these individuals to be able to cover some of their needs with meals.”
For her part, the Head of the Social Welfare Commission for Càritas Andorrana, Paqui Barbero highlighted: “for us, it is very important that Grandvalira donates this surplus of food for the second year to help the families we help weekly with meals that are different to those that we are typically able to offer.”
In order to make this charitable network possible, different parties are involved: the ski station as promoter of the project and in making the meals; the suppliers that provide food; people in vulnerable situations; and social agents such as entities and associations that have the direct link with these groups.
In Andorra, there are some people that find themselves in a precarious economic situation. Càritas Andorrana receive requests on a day-to-day basis from families and other individuals who require their help. Being aware of this reality, one of the purposes set out in the Andorra 2029 project is to join in with the work being carried out by the institutions and to work on improving social welfare.
