Company visit De Vaart vzw

Also in our immediate vicinity, there are people who do not have much and where every help is welcome. Every person in need can go to a social grocery store for this. During this trip, we will get to know the operation of non-profit organization De Vaart, a volunteer organization, founded in 1998 and affiliated with “Sint-Vincentius a Paulo”, which works within the framework of a cooperation agreement with the Stad Kortrijk. As a social grocery store, it provides food aid to individuals and families in poverty and guides them as much as possible for any other needs. People and families end up at De Vaart through referrals from social organizations or individuals, such as the OCMW, the CAW, Kind en Gezin, street workers, bridge figures, debt mediators, organizations such as De Kier, Poverello, and possibly hospitals and/or doctors. About 30 volunteers commit themselves for free and selflessly to ensure that the food distribution takes place with mutual respect and in the most efficient manner possible. In doing so, the intention is to serve the “customers” respectfully and customer-friendly – let's say with a smile – and to ensure a balanced distribution of the offer, but also to handle and store the weekly delivered and collected products with care and attention to food safety. De Vaart offers a wide range of products from various origins. De Voedselbank West-Vlaanderen supplies products, but various companies, organizations, and local shops from the region also supply products or regularly make products available for De Vaart. This mainly concerns bread products, ready-made meals, frozen vegetables, cleaning products, etc. But products are also regularly purchased themselves that are often not or insufficiently available in the normal assortment, such as eggs, cheese, fruit, etc.