The food bank is running a new food collection drive from today through Sunday.

The Food Bank Against Hunger is running a new supermarket collection drive from today until Sunday with the support of 40,000 volunteers.

The campaign will take place across the country under the slogan “Your Help Could Be What’s Missing on the Family Table” and will see volunteers in more than 2,000 commercial spaces over three days collecting donated goods, according to a statement from the agency.

Typically, the Food Bank runs two campaigns a year to collect essential food items for people in need, such as milk, rice, pasta, butter, olive oil, grains, beans, tuna, sausages, biscuits and breakfast cereals.

Items that are delivered to volunteers as they exit supermarkets are sent to various Food Bank warehouses where they are separated and packaged before distribution to people with a demonstrated need for food.

Until December 3, there is also the opportunity to contribute using vouchers available at supermarket checkouts or through the electronic platform available at www.alimentestaideia.pt.

The Food Bank Against Hunger is urging people to get involved “at a time when more and more families are facing difficulties as a result of inflation and, above all, significant increases in home loan interest rates.”

Speaking to Lusa in May, the president of the Portuguese Federation of Food Banks Against Hunger, Isabelle Jaunet, said requests for help in the first four months of the year had almost doubled compared to 2022.

During this year’s first national campaign in May, the Food Bank collected more than 1,719 tons of food with the help of 40,000 volunteers.

In 2022, 28,905 tons of food were distributed to 395 thousand people in need.

The Portuguese Federation of Food Banks brings together a network of 21 national food banks.