The slice of bread – it’s a name of the magazine issued by The Food Bank in Lublin Summing up conference of the Food Aid Operational Program 2015 – Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) There was a conference summarizing the current implementation of the Food Aid Operational Programme (Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived) in the Lublin Voivod’s Office in Lublin. The president of the Food Bank in Lublin, Ms. Marzena Pieńkosz – Sapieha was an initiator of this conference. Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy and the Voivod of Lublin were patrons of this event. The conference was attended by representatives of partner organizations, experts, representatives of local authorities. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the issue of good practice and to recognize possible fields of improvement.
Marzena Pieńkosz – Sapieha asked the guests to talk about the ways of helping and how to make FEAD more useful for people and for organizations. During the main panel discussion participants shared their practices. Worth noting are the following conclusions and demands: Implementation of the program depends on the involved leaders. Also very important are partnerships with local governments and Social Assistance Centers and the faith in the sense of action. It is easy to start cooperation with organization even after only one phone call with request. The key to effective implementation of the program is a commitment and cooperation, especially the commitment of volunteers. Where people can work together, there are benefits for everyone. Panelists were also talking about problems, specially about legendary FEAD bureaucracy. Most of them understand that some data are just necessary and it is not to hard to fill ready-to-fill forms. The next part of the panel was about promotion. The guests were talking about ways to increase the number of cooperating organizations and local authorities. There are some places in Lublin area which are not taking a part in FEAD. Guests were talking about the huge commitment of volunteers and workers of Social Assistance Centers. They often take a huge effort to prepare many documents and to give food from the warehouse.
One of the panelists recommended a proven model of cooperation with the Fire Brigade Guards and with another rural organizations. In his opinion sometimes the help of these voluntary organizations is necessary due to lack of other charity organizations in some villages.
The next important part of the conference was about how does the FEAD complement the European Social Fund. Representatives of ESF, Marshal’s Office and other institutions explained how FEAD support will help people take their first steps out of poverty and social exclusion. The FEAD will help the most deprived people by addressing their most basic needs, which is a precondition for them to be able to get a job or follow a training course such as those supported by the ESF.
The representatives of organizations and young artists presented artistic show and prepared regional cuisine specialties at the end of the conference.