Free food for poor: Companies step in to rescue for Greece’s hungry

Businesses show their humane side

Five years of recession have driven Greece to dumpsters. As a growing number of beleaguered Greek people turn to scavenging for food, some people have come to the rescue.

Free bread

The Veneti chain of bakeries is offering free bread to pensioners, the unemployed, large families and people in need according to an announcement. The people in need will be offered free bread from Friday.

This is not the first time that chain has stepped in to help weaker groups. For the last four years, Veneti has been offering free products that have been left over to people in need.

Free lunch

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of easyJet, now lives in Monaco. As a Greek living abroad he could not help being affected by the humanitarian crisis that has crushed Greece as a result of years of austerity. For this reason, he launched his Food From the Heart Foundation to give away meals to poor people in Athens.

At the moment, around 2,400 Athenians go to his charity each day. His dream is to see his charity becoming obsolete. “They are walking and queuing to receive something worth 4 euros!” he told the Evening Standard. “It shows how much poverty and desperation there is.”