Just like last year, Raben Logistics Czech was the exclusive transport partner of the National Food Collection which took place on November 12th. This year’s collection, in which people donated more than 300 tons of food to people in need, broke records as well as record were the kilometres gone by Raben trucks to food banks and non-profit organizations. “The event with an unpredictable result, but it was managed professionally and without any mistake,” Martina Netuhová from Raben Logistics Czech praises the employees’ activity.
On November 12th, while people bought non-perishable food in shops all over the country to donate to people in need at the cash desk in the traditional National Food Collection, Raben employees knew that a long shift was expecting them – they had to take the donated food to food banks and charities. However, all of them drove their trucks willingly on their free day, and they drove an incredible 3 989 kilometres on their ways to food banks. “Our work started after the collection points were closed. We took the donated food to food banks and non profit organizations in nine regions,” Martina Netuhová, marketing and PR specialist from the Raben Logistics Czech company, says about the involvement of the company in the event. Raben sent 24 drivers to this event, who took nearly 50 tons of food from 72 shops throughout the Czech Republic and drove 3 989 kilometres. The company was already significantly engaged last year, but this year the number of shops involved has tripled. “Although you cannot meet us on the roads on Saturdays, we were happy to make an exception. Despite the vastness of this event, which has no parallel in the Czech Republic, we must say that the food transport went smoothly with no mistake,” Netuhová says.The logistics company is pleased that, thanks to the transport, they can help people at risk of poverty. “And when we see the activity of our drivers who, in spite of the difficult accessibility of some collection points, stayed professional and helpful, we know it is meaningful not only for people in need, but for our employees as well,” adds Netuhová.Besides chain stores, Raben also took donated food from Český rozhlas which organized the collection in its building in Vinohrady in Prague.Selected shops of Albert, BILLA, Globus, Kaufland, Lidl, Makro, Penny Market, Tesco and all dm markt and ROSSMANN drugstores were involved in the charity event. That is why not only food was collected but also drugstore goods successfully this year.“Record results are due to better awareness from the public that can see real food waste on the one hand and that there are groups of people that cannot afford to buy enough food on the other hand. These are specifically the elderly, single mothers, foster families, handicapped people and others. The purpose of our collection is to draw attention to this issue,” Pavlína Kalousová from the Business for Society organization reminds us.Because of the number of shops engaged increased to 659 – (315 chain stores and 344 drugstores) – 3 569 volunteers were involved in the collection. “As a volunteer coordinator I was in BILLA shop in Carlsbad. The atmosphere here was very pleasant, the shop staff was very helpful, the employees themselves got involved in the event, and they bought some non-perishable food,” Božena Nývltová, the volunteer coordinator, says. She was pleased that some people came to the shop just because of the collection and they donated all the food they bought as a gift at the cash desk.National Food Collection is organized by the Business for Society platform with the cooperation of the Czech Federation of Food Banks and the Salvation Army. A lot of non profit organizations participate in the collection implementation (for example, individual subsidiaries of the Salvation Army and Charity, asylum shelters, etc.). Selected food will be given to the clients of participating non-profit organizations.