Charity Corner
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
our administrators produce and provide this site as a community service. There is no charge. However, if a reader wishes to contribute towards a charity of their choice, we have listed some charities in the Luberon from which you can choose.
In all cases, please deal with the charity contact direct and not through Tribal Knowledge Luberon as we do not endorse any one given charity and have no means of collecting and distributing money or goods.
If you wish to propose a charity for this site, please click here. This includes some special events and campaigns.
What is Les Restos de Coeur?
Les Restos du Coeur is the name of France’s nationwide Food Bank, set up in 1985, and today operates more than 2000 centres, which provide groceries and other support to families and single people who are hard pressed to make ends meet.
The number of people seeking help at Les Restos du Coeur (RdC) has grown considerably in the past two years, to the point where resources will need to double in order to meet current demand. This urgent need has led to a nationwide appeal for help.
At the RdC Centre in Apt we serve 25 communes in the Luberon. The underprivileged in the area have been hit hard by inflation in food and energy and, increasingly, are relying on us for help. A dedicated group of volunteers distribute groceries equalling more than 2,000 meals per week (compared with 1,150 in 2021).
Our current centre can no longer cope with the needs of the local population,and we are fortunate to have found new premises in Apt.
These premises are situated in Avenue des Bourguignons, and it has the added advantage of being right opposite a bus stop which allows the families and visitors ease of access – the present location does not do this.
The lease has been signed for the new centre, which requires major rehabilitation and outfitting to meet the necessary standards.
The project has been professionally scoped with a budget of €130,000 to create a centre that is fit for purpose, including provision of basic services beyond the minimum.
Funds amounting to €93,000 to date have been raised, with contributions from the national RdC organization as well as from charitable and private sources, leaving an additional €37,000 to be found from private donations.
For those who pay income tax in France, donations can be significantly reduced through tax deductions up to 75%.
This is an URGENT appeal for support of our local population in need.
How do I donate?
We thank you, in advance, for responding to it with any amount you can give as a one-time or as a regular donation . Please remember to mark your donation “Apt”.
If you would like more information on the RdC and the new centre for the Luberon in Apt, please contact Kevin Widrow*, in English or French. As one of the local RdC project leaders, he will be more than happy to respond to you and answer any questions you may have. We thank you for your generosity.
- Kevin can be reached on: 06 20 47 90 70; or email: kevin.widrow@restosducoeur.org
Here’s some more photographs of the new Centre:
H.A.P.A.
HAPA Recyclerie APT
HAPA accepts most household items, including furniture, clothes, tools, ornaments, appliances and audio/video equipment which they repair, refurbish or upcycle and then offer for resale to the public. All proceeds are used to support the HAPA Association, which provides emergency accommodation, food, training and support to disadvantaged members of the Apt community, in an attempt to get them back into mainstream society.
By donating your unwanted items to HAPA, you are extending the life of items you no longer have a use for, reducing waste, reducing landfill, creating local jobs and helping local people. In addition, the sales area is interesting to walk around, and, who knows, you may even find something useful!
HAPA can be found at 479 Avenue de Roumanille – 100m from Luberon Bio.
For more information send an email to: recyclerie.apt.luberon@gmail.com
REGIONAL CENTRE FOR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, BUOUX
You’ve found an injured animal? Please read on ……..
The Wildlife Rescue Centre near Buoux rehabilitates injured wildlife throughout the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. It mainly receives birds of prey, most smaller birds, and certain mammals such as bats, hedgehogs, squirrels and pine martins. In 2025 they received and treated a record 3,200 animals and birds. Injures ranged from gun shot wounds, to poisoning, flying into power lines and traffic accidents. Many young animals who lost their mothers contribute to this number.
Le Centre de Sauvegarde de la Faune Sauvage is a charity run under the auspices of the LPO (Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux). It operates solely thanks to donations and an enthusiastic group of volunteers and young vets who work tirelessly to treat the animals and birds, with minimal human contact, before releasing them back into the wild. A Provence wide group of volunteer drivers co-ordinate to bring the wildlife to the centre, often in relays. Local bus companies also co-operate to transport the injured.
Located in the heart of the Luberon-Lure Biosphere Reserve, the center was created in 1996 by the Luberon Regional Natural Park which owns it. Its management was entrusted in 2006 to the LPO Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, an environmental defense association which carries out a mission in favor of wildlife.
Note! For the peace of the animals, the Center is not authorized to welcome the public. It cannot be visited.
If you find an injured animal or bird please consult the following website for information about how to handle them and who to contact so that a volunteer can be organised to collect and transport them to the Centre.
https://paca.lpo.fr/soins-animaux
The Centre is always in need of donations, animal food, bedding such as newspapers and flattened cardboard boxes and medical material. Details of their most current needs is shown on the website above under the heading ‘Offrez nous du matériel’. It’s a long list and your help would be greatly appreciated.
Don’t hesitate to ask your local pharmacist or vet for the medical material needed. They are often willing to make donations. Please then ring the Centre where a volunteer will be organised to collect the material.
Please contact Rosie Jackson, a Luberon Life member, for any further information or consult the Centre’s website.
YOUR SUPPORT IS INVALUABLE TO PROTECT OUR ENDANGERED WILDLIFE. THANK YOU.
APT HOSPITAL
In 2015, a group of supporters who believe strongly in the importance of having a Community Hospital in the Luberon, came together in response to a call for help from Hospital Director, Mme Danielle Frégosi. She was about to embark on an extensive modernisation project for the Hospital which it needed badly after more than 30 years.
While the French National and Regional Health Authorities, and the regional and local governments underwrite most of the costs, there are some elements not covered by the budgets allocated.
It is these important patient-facing aspects of hospital accommodation and services that the Fonds de Dotation, the charitable organisation formed by residents of the Luberon, has pledged to provide through its fund-raising programme and activities.
These include Multimedia-Medical Terminals (MMT) for each bed in the renovated rooms, providing patients with convenient networked access to email, social media, movies, and other means of communication with the outside world, as well as information and tutorials to help manage diseases such as diabetes. Nursing staff use the MMTs to record patient data and track their treatments, while doctors can hold external consultations and exchange data on patients with remotely located specialists or GPs through external communications links.
In the upgraded and reconfigured rooms, funds raised by the Fonds de Dotation are contributing to update decoration and provide extra beds so that a relative may accompany eg, a child, and stay with them overnight.
And to make the hospital experience less stressful the Fonds de Dotation is contributing to family-friendly waiting areas and improved directional signage.
The Fonds de Dotation has been collecting money for the past 5 years and has raised more than 500.000 euro to date.
To contribute, click on this link: https://apt-hopitaldavenir.fr to be redirected to the Giving page on the Fonds de Dotation’s website.
Please contact Shelagh Lester-Smith, President, Fonds de Dotation, with any questions, comments, or suggestions. Shelagh can be contacted on: shelaghlestersmith@yahoo.com.