While food donations plummet in the summer, the number of beneficiaries in Vukovar grows to nearly six hundred families. The 'Duga' association pleads for basic staples, and beneficiaries testify to a harsh daily reality.
The summer months have brought serious problems to the Vukovar social grocery store. Although the number of beneficiaries is constantly increasing, food donations have drastically fallen, leaving shelves increasingly empty. The humanitarian association Duga Vukovar, which runs the store, appeals to citizens not to underestimate even the smallest help, as for many families it represents the only way to get through the month.
One of the beneficiaries, Dubravka, after more than thirty years of work, stepped into the social grocery store for the first time. She admits that she had long refused help, convinced that there was always someone in greater need. "I always thought there's someone who has less, but they convinced me in the end, they say - you're crazy, your pension of 408 euros is nothing," Dubravka told HRT Magazine.
The hardest moment, she says, was not coming to get help, but accepting the fact that she needs it. "We have children, they always ask - mom, do you need anything, I don't need anything, they need to work for themselves, not for me. When they come and bring something, when I hear the rustle of a bag, you know what - that's hell for me, because I can't afford it from my pension," she added.
The president of the Duga Vukovar association, Tamara Mikulić, warns that the situation is critical. "Regardless of the donations we have during the year, in August we are literally empty, and we are collecting and begging and asking to fill the shelves so we can start September and distribute normally, so that when people come, there are at least six, seven, eight items that will help them get through that ninth month," Mikulić told HRT Magazine.
The association faces a chronic shortage of basic non-perishable items such as oil, flour, and sugar. The little that arrives, mostly from donations from retail chains, does not stay on the shelves for long. Products collected in the morning end up in the hands of beneficiaries within an hour or two.
Milenko, another beneficiary of the store, explained how he manages with what he receives. "I got some bread and soup, a bag of items and eggs, that's enough for this week. The bread is not from today, but it doesn't matter, we have our own method - we freeze the bread first, then take it out and toast it, that bread is better and of higher quality than this fresh bread," Milenko told HRT Magazine.
Nearly six hundred families in Vukovar are trying to ease their daily lives with these shelves. The association says that no help is too small, because what seems like just another item in a store to someone might be someone else's only meal of the day.
