Christmas without Hunger campaign is launched with an event in a protest tone

The NGO Ação da Cidadania launches this Sunday (16), in Rio de Janeiro, the Christmas without Hunger campaign. The initiative seeks donations for Brazilians in a situation of food insecurity, a problem that has grown in the pandemic.

This Sunday’s event, World Food Day, takes place on Copacabana beach, in front of Avenida Princesa Isabel, south of Rio.

In an attempt to draw attention to the advance of hunger, Ação da Cidadania set up a Christmas tree with scenographic foods symbolizing carcasses and spoiled food next to empty plates. The choice refers to scenes that multiplied during the economic and health crisis.

Different cities registered lines of hungry people looking for donations of leftovers and beef bones. The NGO points out that hunger has affected 33 million people in Brazil, according to data from a recent survey.

At the event in Copacabana, equipment was also installed to simulate the purchases of families that receive up to R$ 303, monthly income of 18% of the population, according to the entity.

“The choice between what to buy and what to leave in the cart is never easy for anyone. And anyone who goes through it knows that it’s impossible to survive with so little a month and still pay all the bills. That’s what we want to draw attention to this year “, says Rodrigo “Kiko” Afonso, executive director of Ação da Cidadania.

According to the NGO, donations for Natal Sem Fome must be made online by the end of December, on the official website (www.natalsemfome.org.br) or through Pix ([email protected]). You can also apply for volunteering on the institution’s website.

During the launch in Rio, there is also the possibility of donating food at a collection point.

“We can’t spend another year seeing the population eating leftovers, carcasses, skins, and running after garbage trucks. If that’s not inhumane, I don’t know what is,” points out Afonso.

Ação da Cidadania was founded in 1993 by sociologist Herbert de Souza, known as Betinho. The objective was to fight hunger and socioeconomic inequality, in a context of more than 32 million Brazilians below the poverty line.

For Betinho’s son, Daniel Souza, who presides over the Citizenship Action Council, there is a certain feeling of frustration when talking about the fight against hunger in the country. “In 2014, we left the hunger map, as there was heavy investment, but in 2016, 2017, this structure began to lose strength, with fewer resources. In 2018, there was a dismantling of public policies to combat hunger and poverty.”

He says that, between 2007 and 2017, the entity did not need to raise funds for Christmas and they were working on projects in the areas of education and innovation, but were surprised by the urgent demand of the state committees that serve 3,000 social institutions spread across several states. “The committees started asking for the return of Christmas Without Hunger because families needed it and, since March 2020, we have not stopped distributing basic food baskets even a month.”

Souza says that the pandemic only aggravated a situation that was already happening. “It is the government that can eradicate hunger, but instead it has denied that it exists, neglecting this situation.”

Ação Cidadania does not receive donations from any government, only from individuals and companies. “It is not our role to give food to the Brazilian people, but to the public authorities. However, we will continue our work until Brazil leaves the hunger map.”