The Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta is the Malta winner of the 2023 European Citizen’s Prize, having been nominated by MEP David Casa.

Awarded every year by the European Parliament, the European Citizen’s Prize rewards projects run by citizens and organisations in each EU member state. 

The Valletta soup kitchen follows in the footsteps of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, which was Malta's winner in 2022 for its contribution to human rights and justice.

The Franciscan Friars began operating the Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta project in 2021. It has since fed tens of thousands of people. 

In 2022, the soup kitchen prepared over 120,000 meals for more than 30,000 guests, include 222 children. 

Casa noted that the soup kitchen opened soon after inflation drove food prices up the wall leading those on the periphery to seek aid.

Casa, who had led negotiations on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) as part of the ESF+ regulation, said that food inflation was a pressing challenge in the current economy.

He praised the friars' effort saying that “people like Fr Marcellino are on the forefront of the fight against social exclusion, ensuring that those on the periphery do not suffer deprivation of basic material needs.”

“It is a prime example of European solidarity among citizens,” the nomination read.

“By relying on donations and volunteers, the project created a community of solidarity and understanding to uphold the dignity of those at risk of poverty and social exclusion. At the core of the project is a concern with the most fundamental European right: human dignity.”

Casa had also nominated the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation for the prize in 2022.