The program has helped more than 2,500 at-risk senior citizens in the municipality of San Bernardo.

A year ago, the Food Network, the largest food bank in Chile, and Autopista Central of the VíasChile Group, the Luksic Foundation and members of the Food Network united to inaugurate the first Social Pantry in the municipality of San Bernardo.

This is a project of great social and environmental impact that works thanks to the rescue of products donated by members of the Food Network.

This community space is a center where food and basic necessities are supplied, and it is focused on at-risk senior citizens. More than 745,000 kilos of food have been delivered since it opened. 74% of its beneficiaries are women and the remaining 26% are men.

People must meet the following requirements to be a member of the Social Pantry: be receiving the basic solidary old-age pension, earn individual income below the minimum wage, and reside in the municipality where the Social Pantry is located.

In addition to nutritional support, it aims to be a contribution to the program’s beneficiaries in order to guide and accompany them in the search for solutions to common problems like safety, drug rehabilitation and health care.

How does the Social Pantry work?

The senior citizens benefited by this program can pick up products once a week at the Social Pantry. Each registered beneficiary has a certain day and time to go and the delivery room is organized in gondolas that specify the number of products that can be taken. Each person has the option of deciding which products they want to take. No money is used in the location.

People can register by answering a brief survey at the Social Pantry’s office or by sending an e-mail to incorporacion@redalimentos.cl.

The Pantry will make from 8 to 10 kilos of products available to beneficiaries, 1.5 kilos of which will consist of liquids, 2.5 kilos of general foodstuffs, and the remaining 4 kilos of fruits and vegetables, in addition to toiletries and cleaning products.