Raben Logistics Czech delivered 48 tons of aid from nine regions

People shopped in stores on Saturday, November 10, and food banks and charitable organisations waited for the largest annual amount of aid. For the fourth time now, the logistics company Raben Czech Logistics was the most important link connecting those who donated with those in need. It delivered the food and drugstore goods to their destination in one day.

"By our involvement, we want to show how essential logistics and transportation are in everyday life. We live in a time of surplus, though often we do not admit it. Therefore we are glad to have the opportunity to participate in a project that highlights this fact and, at the same time, allows us to help people in need," says Jakub Trnka, the managing director of Raben for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while explaining the reason for the company's involvement.

Twenty-three Raben drivers delivered over 48 tons of food and drugstore goods to food banks and non-profit organisations from 54 stores in nine regions of the Czech Republic in just one day.

"Our trucks travelled an incredible 4,421 kilometres in just a few hours. This is a very demanding event in terms of logistics, but when we hear the stories of those whom the collection helped, no one has to convince the drivers to help. Some of them actually ask beforehand when the collection will take place. They know that it is an event that helps hundreds of people in need," says Martina Netuhová, the Marketing and PR Manager of Raben for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

There are many such stories. This year, the stories from the Single Mothers Club probably impressed the most. "When you read that a mother of a 4-year-old boy with ADHD, who is still in diapers and attends a special kindergarten recommended by a paediatrician, has 1,800 crowns left for food after paying the necessary expenses, you just have to help," explains Netuhová.  

The employees of Raben Logistics Czech participate in the collection just like those who shop in stores.

"We do not do official surveys, but we always talk about the food collection with colleagues. I know that, this year, it was the stories of the single mothers that made them buy not only a lot more long-lasting food, but also baby food, drugstore goods, and diapers. Some drivers even went and added their own donations to the collection before its planned transport," says Netuhová.

Unfortunately, not even in our country is hunger an abstract concept. According to qualified estimates in the Czech Republic, almost 1.5 million people live on the poverty line or social exclusion threshold. The nationwide National Food Collection took place on Saturday, November 10, in 693 stores throughout the Czech Republic. This year, Albert, BILLA, dm drogerie markt, Globus, Lidl, Makro, Penny Market, ROSSMANN and Tesco participated in the project with selected stores. The logistics company Raben Logistics Czech took care of the transport. It is a unique social responsibility project of companies in the Czech Republic and abroad in which companies from different sectors work together in the domestic market.

In total, donors donated 321 tons of goods throughout the Czech Republic, of which 41 tons were drugstore goods.

"The wave of solidarity that the National Food Collection has once again helped to raise is the most important thing to us. We are also pleased that people donated more drugstore goods and hygiene products, and, in some cases, even a lot higher-quality food this year in addition to the basic food items. The very fact that people think about what they should buy and whom they will help is one of the main reasons why we founded the collection six years ago and why we organise it,” says Pavlína Kalousová, Chairwoman of Business for Society.