On Tuesday, the four organisations making up Caritas Luxembourg presented their annual report for 2018.
Globally, Caritas' purpose is to "serve the poor and promote charity and justice throughout the world", based on sharing the mission of the Catholic Church. In Luxembourg, the charity helps those who are struggling.
In 2018, Caritas was able to work a lot in helping those who struggle and thanked those who donated and its volunteering teams. Last year Caritas was able to supply aid to 100,000 people in 17 different countries thanks to the €12.6 million raised in Luxembourg. In addition to that number, Caritas also helped 22,000 individuals requiring help in the Grand Duchy.
As one of the charity's 657 volunteers, Cécile Bellot, explained, she had known that there were many people in Luxembourg who struggled to make ends meet. Bellot, who works in one of the charity's food banks, highlighted that it is different knowing that people struggle and then standing face-to-face with people who have to carefully count every cent to buy necessities.
Caritas has four food banks in the Grand Duchy and the number of individuals using the food banks is on the rise. Those using Caritas' food banks are able to buy necessities at prices they can afford. According to Irène Jamsek, this covers foodstuff like pasta, rice, coffee, sugar, and jams, but also household products including detergent, shampoo, and soap.
The president of Caritas Luxembourg, Marie-Josée Jacobs, used the previous year's report to provide further information about a new service offered by Caritas. The service, called "tente de nuit" (night tent), is open throughout the year and has ten available spots for individuals with a precious health and mental state, who cannot or do not want to be in a shelter with many others.
Caritas is active in a number of different areas, including housing. In the last year, Caritas helped 2,700 in housing matters. The charity maintained that housing remains one of Luxembourg's national challenges in light of the increasing expenses. This evolution especially affects those struggling to make ends meet.
Caritas Luxembourg is unable to carry out these services without funding and donations. Last year, the foundation was able to raise €2.6 million and hopes its fundraising in 2019 will be equally high. The full report is available on caritas.lu.
Video in Luxembourgish
