ASOCIACIÓN BENÉFICA “MADRE DE LA ALEGRÍA”
This soup kitchen was opened in 1977 in Leganés by a lady called Paquita, who toiled tirelessly to get this soup kitchen up and running. It is so much her baby that it is still referred to in the neighbourhood as “el comedor de Paquita” (Paquita’s soup kitchen). Francisca Gallego, aka Paquita, set up in this very place all those years ago, after having run a makeshift centre from her own tiny apartment. Her motto, which still inspires volunteers today, was to provide “kindness, understanding, a place to have a chat and a plate of steaming food” to all those who flock to her centre.
The centre is run by approximately 30 volunteers who open at 8 a.m. and close at 2:30 pm. In this time, they cook a hot meal for about 500 needy people who queue up for a hot meal from 10 in the morning. The recipients of this generous meal are ushered in in groups of 10, where they are allowed to eat in about 20 minutes and are then replaced by the next batch.
They have a fixed menu every day of the week: Mondays it’s cocido, Tuesday it’s lentils with a salad, Wednesdays they serve French beans with fish, Thursday its Macaroni with eggs and Friday they serve chicken with rice.
The meal is rounded off with whatever is on offer (or has been donated that day), be it yoghourt, fruit or coffee with biscuits. They are sent off with a bocadillo for their dinner.
The people who are offered a meal here are vetted to ensure that they are needy families who cannot manage without help. Sometimes they even offer economical help to some families who are unable to pay their utility bill temporarily, or they help with transport costs.
This NGO receives sporadic donations from the Food Bank and other supermarkets in the area (donations of food with a short shelf life) and other NGOs such as IWCA.
They also run an Operación kilo around the neighbourhood schools to obtain the food they require. We help them once a month with milk and other food items that are required to run this wonderful enterprise.
Comments