Czech Prasadam distribution , Loka Saranga dasa (Lukáš Bauer )
Article in nation newspaper.
We want to give away thousands of portions a day
In spring 2022, Lukáš spent two weeks on the Ukrainian-Polish border, where he distributed food to refugees from war-torn Ukraine. What he saw there changed his life. Even after returning to Prague, he wanted to continue distributing food to everyone who needed it. As part of the Food for All project, they started with food for Ukrainian refugees, including many Roma, who were staying at the Prague Main Station. Later, socially needy Czechs, especially the homeless, joined their „clients“. However, the demand for their food is many times greater than they can even cook and distribute.
How did your project “Food for All” come about?
I think it’s still happening because I have big goals in mind, and this is hopefully just the beginning. The big goals are thousands of servings a day, so that everyone in Prague can eat our food as needed, and pay nothing. Nowadays, many people would probably welcome that. In the beginning, there was a trip with my friend from England who has a charity organization Food for All London, to the town of Medika on the Ukrainian-Polish border. We cooked and distributed food there for almost two weeks and it was a very intense experience for me. Ruin and misfortune as far as the eye could see, and at the same time a lot of goodness and help from ordinary people, a lot of bizarreness, coldness, contradictions, helplessness and humanity. I knew it changed me. I didn’t want to go back to „normal life“ despite all the bad and rough things. I wanted to continue to be helpful and do what was really needed. And that friend from London then told me to set up food distribution in Prague, and that he would support me in the beginning. As soon as I arrived, I started looking for the necessary things, a place to cook and a brave partner, and everything came together quickly. We bought pots, a burner, a car, drove to the Makro Supermarket, and on April 5th 2022, for the first time, we brought food to the pre-arranged center for refugees on Wenceslav Square, in the heart of Prague.
How are you doing now?
We recently added another place in Prague’s Michle district for people in difficult situations in cooperation with the Center for Social Services Prague. We also delivered food to the Naděje center for homeless people. This means 300 portions a day for refugees from Ukraine and 300 portions for Czechs in need, including, for example, single mothers. I normally work as a cook in a take-away restaurant and bakery in Benešov near Prague, and when I cook what is needed for the take-away restaurant, I continue to cook for Food for All. We have already distributed at least 60,000 portions of healthy vegetarian food for free.
What does that give you?
Even though it’s a bit of a marathon – I have to think about a lot of things, cooking, shopping, kitchen, trying to get money where possible, communicating with people – so it gives me some confidence that I’ll learn in this life what I have to learn. That I left my comfort zone for good and am no longer burdened with selfish miseries.
Who exactly is involved in the project?
Two of us started – me and Dušan. We have known each other for years, so I knew who I needed and who I was going to have as a helper.
My „recruitment“ went something like this: „Come do it with me, I don’t know how long or what it will look like or where we will do it.“ And he nodded. We still have a few helpers and also someone to stand in. I knew right away that I wanted to do it in collaboration with someone, not just set up a table at Prague’s Main Train Station, give out twenty portions and then pack it up, because someone is kicking me out of there. So we cooperate with a fairly wide range of organizations – the Mirija association, Romodrome, Naděje, the Municipality, the Administration of Refugee Facilities of the Ministry of the Interior, the Krishna Court farm, the Madhava take-away restaurant or just your Špuntíci Foundation.
What are your visions for the future?
We need our own kitchen, which would be used exclusively for the distribution of free food. The way we’re doing it now won’t last much longer. Either we build a tiny kitchen from scratch or we get something in Prague. This really worries us, because we need more space so that volunteers can come and help us and we can increase the number of meals distributed. The interest and possibilities are huge. The vision is simple – to give free food to everyone. Thousands of servings every day.
How can people help you?
Whatever. I learned that those who want will always help. We need volunteers for both the kitchen and distribution. We need raw materials – rice, legumes, buckwheat, butter, vegetables and fruit. And we need money. So please help us and see that – as Francis of Assisi said – one who gives will gain.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Dušan Vojtěch and Lukáš Bauer cook and distribute, together with other volunteers, 600 portions every day. But their interest in food is much greater, so they need help in their effort
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IBAN – CZ6920100000002300629424
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