Rise in standard of living does not shorten bread-lines in Helsinki area

Number of those in need of food relief doubled from last year

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The Finnish economy is said to be improving, or to have improved already. "I don't understand. If we live in a welfare state with the most competitive economy in the world, then how come the queues for food aid are getting longer and longer?" asks Liisa Aalto, managing director of the Espoo-based Manna-Apu (Manna-Aid) organisation.
     
Other organisations distributing free food for the underprivileged share Aalto's sentiment: the food queues have lengthened. "A year ago we had an average of 200-300 people standing in the bread-line. Now the number is around 550", confirms Heikki Hursti from the charity organisation carrying the names of his parents Lahja and Veikko Hursti.
      From the Salvation Army unit on Helsinki's Castréninkatu, another 500 people collect their daily bread. Other food supplies are picked up from the organisation's office by appointment.
      "In a month, we help out about 4,000 people. The figure includes the family members of those queuing for bread", reports assistant social secretary Gun-Viv Glad-Jungner of the Salvation Army.
      Every week another 600 people queue up for food from Manna-Apu. This translates to food aid for around 5,000 individuals every month, family members included.
      The Myllypuro Food Service Group of the Herttoniemi Parish of the Lutheran Church has the largest number of beneficiaries in the capital area. According to deaconess Liisa Rautala, on a "large delivery day", which is every Tuesday and Friday, nearly 800 people join the queue for a portion of fruit, ready-prepared foods, dairy products, bread, and vegetables. On the in-between days, over 100 people still pick up bread and vegetables.
      In 2004, the Myllypuro centre provided food for over 53,000 visitors. Last year's figure was over 63,000. By the end of April this year, around 21,000 visits were already paid to the centre.
     
In Glad-Jungner's view, the number of those seeking food relief has not declined at all since the recession of the 1990s. The number of families has increased, and new people show up all the time.
      Liisa Rautala points out that the average age of those in the food-lines has dropped: there are families with small children, returning migrants, as well as part-time workers.
      The number of people with a foreign background has also increased, Liisa Aalto reveals. "We ask to see their social security cards in order to spell their names correctly."
      Aalto criticises the society for the lack of interest in providing financial assistance for the relief organisations. "The government would not have to buy the food. But what it could do is at least pay the salary of the one person that is needed as a project manager", she urges.
     
Those who have taken part in the voluntary work for years deny the allegations that people would queue for food in order to save money for something else.
      "It would take an exceptional character to volunteer for the social stigma that is associated with standing in the bread-line", Aalto argues.
      Finland's harsh weather conditions alone would eliminate needless candidates from standing in the queue for hours.
      The volunteer workers feel that the number of the needy has increased in Finland because compensations and benefits have been cut while the cost of living has increased.
      "Part-time jobs, accumulation of difficulties, long-term unemployment, and the low retirement allowances all add to the problem", Glad-Jungner reckons.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  The queue is long outside the food distribution point of the organised by Heikki Hursti (7.12.2005)
  Veikko Hursti: Tireless advocate of the poor (17.5.2005)
  Cold Snap: Enemy #1 of the street-people (8.3.2005)
  Government ministers want to stop EU food aid to Finland (21.1.2002)
  Working Finns stand in food lines (2.5.2000)

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