Rising pressure on the Food Aid Project, run by the Malta Trust Foundation, will be temporarily eased this week after Palumbo Malta Shipyard donated 13 tons of foodstuffs.

The shipyard ordered a 20-foot container packed with foodstuffs for the project, that has witnessed a spike in demand for food after the COVID-19 pandemic destabilised the economy.

The Food Aid Project was swiftly set up in March when the coronavirus hit Malta, and it has been supporting NGOs struggling to keep up, as well as taking in referrals from the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation, which was unable to take on new cases.

Shipyard president Antonio Palumbo said that like any industry in Malta and all over the world, Palumbo took a hit.

Video: Palumbo

"But after 10 years in Malta this is home and during these most difficult moments we felt now is the time for solidarity with the vulnerable and those most in need." 

The container, which arrived from Italy this week, includes 6,420kg of pasta, 9,336 cans of peas and 4,704 cans of tomatoes, among other basic foodstuffs that will go towards the emergency packs that will keep families and individuals going for two weeks.

The Malta Trust Foundation thanked Palumbo Malta Shipyard for joining an overwhelming number of businesses and individuals coming forward to continue sustaining the project, which is helping more than 5,000 individuals.

The Malta Trust Foundation, which is collaborating with other NGOs, including  Caritas, the Millennium Chapel, Little Sisters of the Poor, Richmond Foundation, St Jeanne Antide and Gozo’s Foundation for Social Welfare, is receiving an increasing number of desperate requests as the economic crisis drags on.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.