Nearly 150,000 people could be denied access to food aid provided by Restos du Cœur this year. The president of this association founded by Coluche has announced a deficit of 35 million and a real possibility of having to go out of business.
Guest of 1 p.m. on TF1 on Saturday, Patrice Douret, president of Restos du Coeur, appealed for help to save the association. Founded by Coluche in 1985, the charity “needs 35 million euros to end the financial year in balance in March”. During the 8 p.m. of the same television channel, Sunday September 3, Aurore Bergé, Minister of Solidarity, affirmed that it was “out of the question to imagine that the Restos can close the door or that the volunteers must give up helping those and those who show up.” The government has therefore promised to provide 15 million euros to the Restos du Coeur.
Patrice Douret hailed, with Le Monde, “a step forward and a desire on the part of the Minister to go in the right direction” even if he insisted on recalling that “the 15 million announced include ten million euros already planned as part of the “Eating better for all” plan.
As a reminder, Emmanuel Macron had refused to respond to the meeting request of the four associations benefiting from European food aid, namely the Restos du Coeur, the Red Cross, the Secours populaire and the food banks. The president of the Restos du Coeur judged that they are not “enough heard and I would even say, perhaps, not taken seriously enough”.
During the winter of 2021-2022, the Restos du coeur saw the number of applicants jump by 22% in one year. This increase is accompanied by inflation which is pushing the association’s budget into the red. Patrice Douret estimated that “at this rate, if we do nothing, even the Restos du coeur could go out of business within three years”. To try to limit the damage, the association therefore plans to “significantly reduce” the number of beneficiaries in order to prioritize the most deprived. 150,000 people will be affected and the quantities of aid will be reduced.
Restos du Coeur aims to help “those who need it most”. The reception process makes it possible to classify, in a certain form, the beneficiaries. It is thus necessary to renew its registration for food aid each year by justifying “the insufficiency of its resources”. This information is essential for volunteers to identify the needs of the people they welcome. People considered to be less in need of this assistance may no longer receive assistance from the association.
If a need must be guaranteed to be granted a meal basket from the Restos du Coeur, no proof is necessary to benefit from a hot meal in a center of the association.
