Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Bishop of Raška and Prizren, and Kosovo and Metohija, Teodosije has made a public appeal for assistance to soup kitchens in Serb communities in Kosovo.
Below is the text of the letter:
Dear Sirs,
As you probably know, the non-government organization Mother of the Nine Jugović, in cooperation with the Orthodox Diocese of Raška and Prizren, has been trying to feed the socially endangered people in Kosovo for the last ten years.
With six soup kitchens covering the whole Pomoravlje (land along Morava), we secure meals daily for around 1,830 of our poorest users, which include 80 children from two primary schools.
Due to the reduction of donations and increasingly smaller reserves of food and money, soup kitchens are finding themselves in a very difficult situation, and we are using this opportunity to invite you to assist the resumption of the work of these kitchens within the bounds of your possibilities.
The aid can be sent in the form of donations in food supplies or money.
From basic food, which are the most required, we need the most: flour, pasta, canned vegetables, salt, spices, beans, oil, rice...
When it comes to donations in money, it could secure salaries for the employees in soup kitchens (total of 32 workers), fuel for transport of food, cover electricity bills, firewood and inventory.
Depending on the amount of money we get, as soon as possible we intend to open a new kitchen in the municipality of Štrpce, for 500 users, and that way expand our humanitarian program in Kosovo.
As the food from soup kitchens is transported daily to remote users (mostly the elderly and sick), it is necessary to secure one second-hand field vehicle, which would cover up to 110 kilometers daily, in order to be able to transport meals for 400 most threatened users of the municipality of Kosovska Kamenica.
In order to have a better insight into the necessities of our kitchens for the period of 6 months, we are sending you the list of supplies we need for the work of all 6 soup kitchens:
Beans: 3,264 kg
Potato: 11,040 kg
Pasta: 4,320 kg
Rice; 2,160 kg
Lentil 3,246 kg
Tomato juice 1,440 kg
Ketchup 1,200 kg
Salt 5,050 kg for bread + 960 kg
Oil 2,364 l for bread + 2,160 l
Mast 3,672 kg
Sugar 1,440 kg
Spices 360 kg
Ground pepper 36 kg
Green beans 3,900 kg
Peas 3,900 kg
Casserole 3,840 kg
Cabbage 10,400 kg
Egg 1,800 pieces
Flour 126,270 kg for bread + 1,476 kg
Meat 1,440 kg
Spam 1,200 kg
Yeast 3,779 kg
Additive for bread: 505 kg
Washing liquid for the dishes 240 l
From material resources we need:
Fuel 660,000 dinars
Salaries for 32 employees 4,920,600 dinars
Vehicle maintenance 500,000 dinars
Electricity 660,000 dinars
Firewood 477,750 dinars
We sincerely hope you will show understanding and willingness to help us in this very significant humanitarian work which we carry out in Kosovo and that we will jointly manage to secure the resumption of normal work of soup kitchens.
Best regards,
Bishop of Raška and Prizren, and Kosovo and Metohija
TEODOSIJE
