The Public Association of Unwanted Attention in Debrecen invited the poor living in the city the day after Christmas.
The menu was stuffed cabbage with fresh bread, Christmas cake, and Christmas candy.
In the minus 3 degrees in December, people waiting for food had gathered long before food distribution began. Most of those waiting for the stuffed cabbage were retirees. The record-high inflation has perhaps hit the hardest, and their lives, which have not been easy so far, have become even more difficult. They got there in the old days, by the end of the month they ran out of little money, and by their old age, they had become exiles of society. There is a hard-working life behind them, now they live overnight. We don’t know why they got here, but the way they stand in the line includes all the sadness of their little life, bitter. Many asked not to be photographed, they were ashamed that they had come here for the rest of their lives. Do they really have to be ashamed of their hopeless life situation?
The facts of the food distribution in Debrecen the next day: we handed out 150 servings of stuffed cabbage, several kilograms of Christmas sugar, 30 kilograms of bread, and 150 packs of Christmas cakes.
We paid for the festive lunch on the one hand from our own pockets and on the other hand from donations from private individuals. To our delight, a lot of people contributed a few thousand forints to the distribution of food. We sincerely thank all our neighbors for their support, and we used the amount paid into the association’s account for a good purpose.
The next food distribution will take place as early as 2022. On January 30, we are waiting for those in need in Debrecen on Petőfi Square with a hot lunch.
– said Ibolya Tukoráné Kádár, the head of the association.