Despite the donations in recent weeks, Les Restos du coeur will have to “refuse people” and reduce the quantity of aid provided from November, the general delegate of the association said on Wednesday October 4, Jean-Yves Troy. “The Restos du coeur are not sized today to distribute 170 million meals, to accommodate 1.3 million people,” he declared before the finance committee of the National Assembly. Faced with this “massive and brutal increase” in requests in a context of high inflation, “we are going to refuse people for the first time in the history of Restos du coeur” from November. “We will also give less in quantity,” he added.
The government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, for his part, was reassuring on Thursday on the LCI set, promising that the government “will not leave Les Restos du coeur without solutions and, therefore, if there is needs to review the grant ceiling, it will be reviewed”. The Minister of Solidarity, Aurore Bergé, is “in contact with them to discuss both subsidies and operating methods so that the Restaurants can remain open and welcome as many people as possible, including in November and December”, he clarified.
A call for donations in September
The association, founded by Coluche and which provides 35% of food aid in France, warned on September 3 that it would be forced to restrict the number of its beneficiaries.
Following this appeal, announcements of donations multiplied, including one of 10 million euros from the family of Bernard Arnault, owner of the world number one luxury brand, LVMH. The government, for its part, promised aid of 15 million euros.
This aid does not resolve access restrictions, with no lasting solution having been found for the years to come, underlined Jean-Yves Troy, citing in particular two unknown factors.
“There is a response from businesses and the general public, and we thank them, but is this generosity going to be there in December as well? “, he asked. Furthermore, “even by reducing the access criteria from November, we have a big unknown on the fact that there will perhaps be more people who will present themselves to the Restaurants and who will be eligible according to our criteria” .