Volunteering with Red Cross Luxembourg…
Serve the City would like to thank everyone who came to our social drinks and information night on 23rd September at Oscars Bar.
We love these informal gatherings, as it gives us a chance to meet with you all in person, share ideas and experiences, and hear from our valued partners. Many thanks go to Isabelle Vekemans, who kindly gave up her time to tell us more about the Red Cross Luxembourg, and it’s clear there are lots of ways in which Serve the City volunteers can help with their various initiatives. For those of you who could not make the evening, don’t worry, here is a brief summary, and you are welcome to send in any questions regarding the Red Cross to hello@servethecity.lu.
To sign up for any of the opportunities discussed at our info night, please contact Isabelle Vekemans directly by email: isabelle.vekemans
The Red Cross runs social grocery stores covering the whole country, over four locations, including Remich as of December. These social groceries provide food and everyday products for people facing financial difficulties. In return, a financial contribution (about one third of the market-price) is required from customers. Cooking lessons are also offered with fresh produce from the groceries, lead by professional nutritionists and chefs. The products in these stores show two prices, the normal price and the one that is to be charged, so that people can keep contact with reality. The goal is to know people by their name and by their heart. If you would like to get involved with this initiative please email Isabelle. Please let her know the languages that you can speak – the most common languages needed are French, Portuguese and English. It would be a minimum of 4 hours per week commitment. Approx 10 people are needed for each location.
Red Cross also runs a cloakroom service, collecting, sorting and making available all kinds of donated clothing for those in need. Isabelle made it clear that for the moment they do not need any more donations! The beneficiaries are referred to the Vestiaires by their sector’s social workers and by the Ministry of Family Affairs. Volunteers are needed to help sort and distribute the clothes. The languages most commonly needed are; English, Arabic, Slavic, French and Luxembourgish. A list of the items the Red Cross may need will be on their website. There is a new location in Windhof which needs more volunteers every weekday (you can even bring your kids!) for a minimum of 2 hours. It is possible to organise a company volunteering event if you have colleagues or even friends who you would like to volunteer with.
There is to be a Red Cross charity shop opening in Bonnevoie – this has been delayed until January of 2016 and they will then be in need of 50 volunteers to help on Saturdays – so if you are interested already to put your name forwards, please let Isabelle know.
From December to March 2016 the Red Cross are running their initiative called ‘Winter Action’. The idea is to offer a roof over peoples heads, food and company, to the homeless over winter. Approx 12 volunteers are needed for this service to run, every day from 12 midday until 5pm (or 12 – 3pm), including weekends. Activities are offered to the people such as painting, language learning etc – so if you are interested to help and you feel you have a skill or something to share with the homeless, please get in touch.
Foyer Don Bosco/Lily Unden is in need of volunteers to distribute meals every day to people, from 11.30am-14.30pm. If interested please email Isabelle.
To see more photos of our info night or to find out more about us, visit our facebook page.
