The "la Caixa" Foundation and CaixaBank donate one million euros to 136 soup kitchens in Spain

"la Caixa" Foundation and CaixaBank have provided aid amounting to one million euros to 136 soup kitchens throughout Spain since the beginning of 2020, with special support for those that have remained open during the confinement situation to cope with the increase in users caused by COVID-19. At the beginning of the health crisis, CaixaBank decided to strengthen support for the soup kitchens it collaborates with through "la Caixa" Foundation's decentralised budget. Many of these kitchens have had to readapt their daily work by increasing home deliveries and food distribution at the kitchens' doors, as they have been kept closed to the public to avoid contagion.

The 136 soup kitchens have been able to deliver a total of 500,000 food rations so far this year, thanks to contributions from "la Caixa" Foundation, channelled through CaixaBank. The aid has focused on Andalusia and Madrid, where both entities have carried out more than half of the collaborations. 

In both communities, the Soul Kitchens' project is being promoted. This initiative, which began in Andalusia in 2014 and was implemented in the DT Centro in 2019, aims to be much more than a set of economic aids for a specific group and also to become a meeting point for the different soup kitchens it brings together. Soul Kitchens' carries out a case-by-case assessment and maintains a follow-up to adapt the aid to family circumstances. Food specifications are also attended to (coeliacs, diabetics, allergies, etc.), adapting the delivery of food to the specific needs of each family. In addition, there is a special program for babies that facilitates their first needs in bottles, diapers, specific creams, etc. 
Thanks to its territorial capillarity, CaixaBank supports the "la Caixa" Foundation in its social work, detecting needs in the areas where the bank branches operate and channelling part of its budget. 

The collaboration between both institutions makes it possible for thousands of small and medium sized social solidarity entities to access economic aid to carry out their projects, such as the soup kitchens throughout Spain. Each year, more than 11,000 initiatives receive, in total, some 44 million euros in favour of more than 7,000 social entities throughout the country.