The Banco de Alimentos de Madrid (BAMADRID – Food Bank of Madrid) is an independent non-profit foundation and member of the Federación Española de Bancos de Alimentos (FESBAL – Spanish Federation of Food Banks). BAMADRID’s objectives are to prevent food waste and to reduce food insecurity amongst the most vulnerable people in the Community of Madrid. To achieve their objectives, they recover surplus production suitable for human consumption and accept food donations from individuals and companies, which they make available free of charge to accredited organisations to distribute to those in need in their communities. In 2019, through the well supported annual national initiative the ‘Gran Recogida de Alimentos / Great Food Collection’, BAMADRID alone received more than 2.75 million kilos of donated food. Founded in 1994, the Banco de Alimentos de Madrid is an organization with 4 distribution centres across the Community of Madrid, more than 300 active volunteers and 27 full-time employees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, requests for food support from BAMADRID increased by 40%. Currently, BAMADRID is distributing more than 2 million kilos of food per month to around 190,000 people through 540 accredited charities.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Banco de Alimentos de Madrid has received steadily growing requests for baby formula 1 (infants 0-6 months) and 2 (infants 6-12 months). On average BAMADRID is providing formula for an additional 3,260 infants per month. In “normal times” they would expect to receive significant in-kind donations of baby formula during the annual ‘Gran Recogida’, which takes place every November. However, the pandemic has made it impossible for large food collections to take place, causing BAMADRID to pivot and for the first time in its history request cash donations this year. This, together with the high price of baby formula, has put a huge strain on BAMADRID’s financial resources. The donation from the Scheinberg Relief Fund has been used in its entirety to purchase baby formula 1 and 2 (for which there is no substitute) for the approximately 3,260 infants who due to the pandemic need food support.
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