Home | Short Stories | Nº 68 – With a little help from a friend

Nº 68 – With a little help from a friend

Saturday, January 2nd 2021

How do we get through hard times together? Are you hungry, alone, ill? With solidarity, with the heart, a modicum of generosity and with the will to love your neighbour. At the moment, probably the best campaign representing these attributes can be found here: https://ppl.pt/en/lugaramesa. On the first day of the new year,  2,815 meals had already been prepared and distributed. However, the aim is to reach at least 4,000 full plates and the campaign will run until 18 January. At the end, it may also come tor (much) more than 4,000 dishes.

This is a fantastic idea: restaurants are having to close down time and again during the Covid-19 pandemic and cooks are out of work. Families of those infected are stuck in quarantine. Instead of always losing together, this campaign is turning the tables: WIN-WIN.


The Lugar à Mesa crowdfunding campaign is built by everyone and for everyone – by everyone who wants to help and for everyone who needs help. The PPL platform is the hub. Co-initiators are the Portuguese Casa da Misericórdia and the Delta Coffee company, who have set up a set of rules that can be downloaded as a PDF at the end of the campaign.

Crowdfunding is the key to solving almost any problem. Quickly and with minimum bureaucracy, like-minded people come together and raise money for an important cause. Help is not long in coming and quickly distributed. Restaurants cook for infected people and their families who cannot leave the house. Anyone who wants to help with a little money can participate. From as little as seven euros (€ 7,00)  for one meal to a contribution of 49 euros for seven meals, we can help out and give a little. Share, help, participate and belong. Start the new year well: www.ppl.com.

 

Uwe Heitkamp (60)

trained TV journalist, book author and hobby botanist, father of two grown-up children, knows Portugal for 30 years, founder of ECO123. Translations : Dina Adão, John Elliot, Kathleen Becker, João Medronho

Photos:dpa

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