food for the needy

Nikki,
I am sure,you know my position on this,You are so right in what you say,and also I gather you are doing your fair share of helping these people.
But you need to keep on harping on about this subject,otherwise people will forget those that need our help.
Unfortunately this Council is in severe debt,and I am sure they will do whatever is possible Financially,It will be up to the people of La Marina and Urbs,to give some time,energy and and Love and Understanding to those less fortunate than ourselves.I believe that if everybody who thinks the same as us ,does something to get this help going,La Marina could become one of the friendliest places to live

I am sorry if my attitude shocks you Nikki but, what you have to understand is that people like myself, who are retired do not have disposable income to dish out willy nilly. In Spain you have to save up to die as the Inheritance tax threshold is very low. I understand that at your age you do not want to think of such things but it has to be faced. My husband retired from full-time work nearly 20 yrs ago and the older you are the less pension you get as pensions do not rise that much. If this is a selfish attitude then I am sorry I am not going to apologise for wanting to keep my head above water and not have to go cap in hand to my family when anything happens to one of us. Time is something I have plenty of, well I spend quite a few days at the SAT shop every week, but I would willingly put my hand to cooking meals in a kitchen provided by the council, one day a week if this is what Jeff has in mind. But you have to understand that not everyone can afford to give every week and should not be made to feel guilty if they can't. I know your heart is in the right place but, we cannot all afford to let it rule our heads.

Eve I am not having a go at any one person, please dont be offended by my comment. I agree with you that many retired people do not have a lot of spare cash,likewise there are many younger people who are struggling to find work in this current climate and businesses are struggling to survive, but take a look around the bars at the general age group of people who have disposible income and I think you will find a very high percentage of them are in fact pensioners, who obviously can afford the luxury of drinking some on a daily basis. I am not saying this is wrong, it is their money to spend as they please ( and without the pensioners of La Marina I wouldnt be here in business)But if we all did just a little (as Alan said) La Marina could be an even better place.
There are many people here who I am sure would give their time ( like you yourself said)others would help by way of donations, food or money for food and maybe the council could help, by making a bi-lingual person available for these people to speak to, to find out what help if any is available to them.
My hope is that the new year will bring better things and that there will be light at the end of the tunnel for these people.
In the meantime could the council please let us know if you are continuing to collect food at the office and keep us updated on any other idea's they have.

Happened to bump into Jeff today and was pleased to hear that the people who picked up the food parcels produced evidence that they were in need of help. If this is the case then i don't mind helping them.

That's brilliant Eve - so glad that we took a load of food down on Saturday morning now to Jeff at the Town Hall to distribute out on that evening.

Nikki, "There but from the grace of God" was mothers favourite saying and holds very true. Charity is giving out of love to help those who are in need. It's better to give and maybe be conned by people with no morals than miss people in need. There's always people who "Know" people fiddling the system, but how much is true and how much "Urban myths"? I'm 72 and I've heard these stories for years but we need to ignore the stories and continue to give. It doesn't need to be a lot, 20 cents can add up, or a packet of pasta or bottle of water.

Very sad to read this has we have just bought onto the urb.
but this seems weird that our Councillor had the last vote and accepted a 33% in drinking water
and a 63% increase in sewage collection.
No doubt we will see an increase now for Electric and Gas very soon.
With the majority of persons on the Urb being
Pensioners which will find it even harder than last year if they have only there pensions to depend on being the pension rate is very low.

Not quite as bad as you stated Grant.It is an increase on the local tax you pay on your bill,not an increase on the total bill.I thought the increase would average about 10euros per quarter,Jeff reckons about one to two euros per quarter.we should be able to see who was nearer within the next month when the bills arrive.Unfortunately Jeff has nailed his flag to the PP and is in fact a deputy major,everybody else on the council is PP.So I guess he has no option,unless he realises one day that his one seat could rule san Fulgencio,if he used it properly.Also Electricity prices are going up this year,but that is out of the hands of the local councils,I believe it is nationwide.

Getting back to the original comment,which was about the needy people around us.
I hope to pop into jeffs office next week to speak to him or one of his staff,to see what ideas they have about giving those in need a cheap meal everyday,and what help I can give to help this plan to fruiction.I will of course put what i find out on this forum,in the hope that those who can help will,and those who cant can at least wish good luck for the scheme to work

Alan your expectations are a little high, to feed possibly, over 90 people everyday. I think the aim is for 1 day a week to start with. To provide a good cooked meal for that amount of people 7 days a week would cost possibly over 1,000 euros - a lot of money to raise every week and a big commitment for someone to undertake. I know it is just 1 euro a week from 1,000 people but, you have to find them first and from personnel experience it is always left to the few. But, Good Luck with it anyway. I would be willing to do a little as they say "Spud Bashing"

Thanks for your comment Eve,it is appreciated.I understand what you are saying,but if we can help some of these people all the time,or all of the people some of the time,I feel it is worth a try,and will give as much time as possible to help it succeed.Of course this will be dependant,on what the Councils plans are,which is why I would like to find out what if anything is going to occur. Mostly it is important to keep this great idea alive and keep it in the publics mind,I have a gut feeling that things are going to get a lot worse for these people in the coming year