Brno delivers meals to homeless

A five-year struggle to provide restaurant food for the homeless and destitute in Brno, south Moravia, has resulted in meals finally being delivered to the city's Salvation Army.

The initiative, which involves eight restaurants, is based on a German model to provide sustenance to those in need.

"I was inspired by the idea when I was living in Germany, where it is routine to give away unserved food to the homeless," said restaurateur Richard Hošek, who, along with a city councilor, helped launch the scheme. "It is actually quite expensive to dispose of food, and this serves a humanitarian purpose as well as saving the restaurants money."

The program produces 50 meals daily, which are picked up by a municipally funded driver, before being delivered to a constantly overcrowded Salvation Army cafeteria that seats more than 150 people per meal. According to Brno City Hall, there is a total of 1,500 known homeless in Brno, but the actual figure may be larger.

The first meals, popular Czech dishes such as goulash, pork with sauce and dumplings, pasta with chicken and vegetable soup, were served Feb. 3.

The service is not just for the homeless but also for women and children who are not getting sufficient daily nutrients.

The Salvation Army has welcomed the initiative but says it is disappointing only eight restaurants have signed up to the scheme.

"It took more than five years of struggling with the municipality for them to provide the car, and I am disappointed that only eight restaurants are participating," said Pavel Kosorin, project manager with the Salvation Army in Brno. "It's sad because top restaurant owners somehow fear they might lose customers if their business is  associated with the homeless."

The plan was passed on the shoulders of deputy mayor Daniel Rychnovský who worked with  Hošek and he believes that other restaurants will jump on board.

"There's no doubt that we are proud of this," he said. "Eight out of 40 is a great number when you are asking somebody to give away something for free."

The program has room for expansion as Brno is home to more than 850 restaurants. "In the initial phase we only spoke with 40 restaurants so there are still a lot more to go, we are hoping to talk to at least another 40 each week," Hošek said.

Hošek hopes that he might somehow be able to give something back to participating restaurants by using the initiative as an opportunity to advertise.

"My wish is that we might have the names of the restaurants who participate on the delivery car and give owners stickers to put on their doors, letting people know who is helping."

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Philip Heijmans can be reached at
pheijmans@praguepost.com