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.
LES RESTOS DE COEUR URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP!
NATIONAL FOOD DRIVE – 1ST AND 2ND MARCH 2024
Les Restos will be holding their National Food Drive on 1st and 2nd March. There is national advertising, TV, radio and heavy publicity on digital platforms.
Last year, Resto in Apt collected 7,3tons of food on the National Drive and this year the target is 8 tons!
Restos will be collecting food over that weekend at LeClerc, Auchan, Intermarche, Lidl and Luberon Bio. All in Apt. Coustellet stores to be announced shortly.
We are making an appeal for volunteers to assist over those two days:
“We need volunteers to help out at the supermarkets. A number of Luberon Lifers have already expressed interest and I think if we made a call for help, we could get a nice response. Helping out involves signing up for 2 hour blocks and then greeting shoppers with a little flyer as they arrive and collecting their contributions when they are done shopping. It’s actually guite good fun and an easy way to help out and really make a difference. Les Restos provide everything necessary and in any case, there are always volunteers from Apt present to organise so that Luberon Lifers would not be on their own !!”
If you’re keen (it’s great fun!) please contact Kevin Widrow:
DM on WhatsApp; SMS or Call 06 20 47 90 70; email kevin.widrow@restosducoeur.org
LES RESTOS DU COEUR URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELPNew Apt Food Bank Centre short of funds for completion
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
L’ECOLE DU CHATS DE MENERBES
And other villages
It is said that there is a feral cat born every 17 minutes in a French village. It’s necessary to control this, but at the same time, enjoy the ambience and atmosphere that the cats bring to a French village. They are intertwined.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, represented in many villages by L’Ecole du Chats aims to create an environment where the cats can live happily and peacefully with the inhabitants of the village. The Ménerbes Association, created on April 17, 2017, aims to sterilize, treat and feed “free” cats in the town of Ménerbes and its immediate surroundings. The “Cat lady” Michele takes care of abandoned cats but also domesticated ones. These cats are sterilized, tattooed, cared for and returned and kept in their place of life or offered for adoption.
If you wish to contribute to Michele’s cats – or if you wish to add your own village’s cats to this list – please contact her on chamenerbes@yahoo.com.
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.