National Caritas Week starts today with street and online fundraising

The national week of Portuguese Caritas begins this Sunday and the president of the institution expressed the hope that the state of the economy will not harm the donations collected through the collection, taking into account the number of people in very difficult situations.

This year the theme of the national week of the institution under the protection of the Catholic Church is “Caritas, love that changes”, and the various initiatives planned for these days will “give face” to all who seek help from the organization that serves more than 120 thousand people.

In a conversation with the Lusa agency, Caritas President Portuguesa recalled that during the previous national fundraising campaign, more than 219 thousand euros were collected, including about 163 thousand euros in street donations and another 56 thousand euros “online”, which is below the needs. National network.

“Whoever donates is also affected by the difficult economy, either the rising cost of living or interest rates, and this will naturally affect donations,” Rita Valadas emphasized.

Caritas President Portuguesa said she wished this had not happened this year, stressing that “Caritas needs this year to be a good one”, taking into account that “there are a lot of people in very difficult situations and a lot of hopelessness ” .

He also mentioned that he would like the organization to be able to “take the next step” and work towards integration, as this would mean that emergency measures were no longer the “daily mission” and that people found other ways.

“This campaign is especially important, and it’s very important that people realize that sometimes, even if it’s support they can give with little value, it can make all the difference,” the person in charge said, noting that if every person donated one euros, the amount collected will be about 10 million euros.

Rita Valadas noted that the amount collected is then distributed among 20 diocesan charities, each of which faces different emergencies to which they have to respond, but which includes help paying for water, electricity, gas, medicine or even utility bills. , the cost of renting a house.

He mentioned that there are their own programs and “sudden emergencies” that are also supported by funds from the collection, citing as an example the fact that there are more and more immigrant groups “who show up with nothing and turn to Caritas services in an emergency on matters such as food and clothing.”

Rita Valadas said National Week begins on Sunday and continues until March 3, the date on which National Caritas Day is celebrated, and other initiatives are planned in all dioceses and several parishes.

One of the events that will mark this week is the presentation of a national study on poverty, a moment that for the President of Caritas is of particular importance, since “often the poverty figures obtained are not “consistent”. with what the organization sees on the ground.

“When we talk about poverty, we think of a global problem, but within poverty there are very different levels of severity, and naturally we have to work differently depending on the level of severity and the needs of the population,” he said.