This Wednesday (13), Unicamp held, through a videoconference, the pre-launch of the Unicamp Solidarity Campaign: Basic Food Baskets. The action aims to raise funds to purchase basic food baskets, which will be donated to the Campinas Food Bank and distributed to vulnerable families in the city during the coronavirus pandemic. Participating in the online meeting were Marcelo Knobel, rector of Unicamp, Marco Aurélio Lima, executive director of Integrated Planning at the university, and Eliane Jocelaine Ferreira, municipal secretary of Social Assistance, Persons with Disabilities and Human Rights of Campinas, as well as company representatives and Unicamp partner institutions.
The pre-launch also included the delivery of the first 386 basic food baskets purchased by the campaign to the Food Bank. The goal is to expand the secretariat's service capacity to the approximately 32 thousand families in Campinas in vulnerable situations. "We did not define the target audience, we understand that this responsibility lies with those who usually do this on a daily basis, who analyze the city's data, which is the social assistance department. What we then decided to do: we bought the baskets and delivered them to the Bank of Food, which has the registration of several institutions that help the secretariat, remove these baskets and deliver them to the vulnerable", explained Marco Aurélio Lima.
"No municipality was prepared for this pandemic"
Funds are raised through the Unicamp Development Foundation (Funcamp) and donations can be made at foundation website. Payment can be made by bank transfer, credit card and bank slip. On the website, it is also possible to monitor the amount raised and the number of baskets delivered to the Food Bank.
According to Eliane Ferreira, the situation is worrying, as many families that were not among those benefited by the secretariat have come to depend on the aid provided due to the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. "The municipality of Campinas has developed important public policies, but no municipality in the country was prepared for this pandemic and the impacts it is causing to Brazilian homes," stated the secretary.
She assesses that the partnership signed between Unicamp and the municipal government should serve as a model for the city itself and for other municipalities in the country. "The University has a very important role not only in the production of knowledge, but also in helping us in the city's territories to put all this knowledge into practice and also allowing us to expand our service capabilities within the scope of public policies", he analyzes.
Importance of attracting new partners
In addition to fundraising, the campaign also has the support of partner companies that also expand the municipality's social assistance capacity. A Itaú Social Foundation will allocate R$1,2 million to the campaign, an amount that will be paid from the end of May in three installments of R$400. The collaboration makes it possible to serve around 8 thousand families per month.
iFood also contributes to the campaign through the donation feature available on the company's app. The amounts donated by customers will be used to purchase basic food baskets delivered by NGO Citizenship Action to the Campinas Food Bank. O We Eat Project, an initiative created in Israel that distributes food kits for sale, is also a partner. This week, the project also donated R$10 to the campaign. "It's a great privilege to be able to help with this, we are working hard to have a big impact, to be able to mobilize millions of people. Several brands have already contacted us and many people are asking to contribute to the campaign, we are heading in a very good direction", he commented Yoav Nevo, project representative.
For Marcelo Knobel, rector of Unicamp, this is an opportunity for the university to add value as an institution to social action and attract more people and companies willing to contribute. "It is a partnership that we are building between Unicamp, the City of Campinas and several companies and civil society organizations that have come together at this very difficult time with the aim of trying to offer as little help as possible and generating value with the university's participation, providing care to these people who at this moment really need help from the whole of society", stated the dean.
Check out the meeting in full on the broadcast made by Unicamp TV:
