“It feels good to help people”: the success of the Restos du Coeur unfortunately continues unabated

Astrid is still a beneficiary of the Restos, but in addition to being a volunteer, she is now a branch manager. MIDI LIBRE – Yan.Phi.

The number of beneficiaries of the Restos du Cœur and meals distributed is increasing in the region. For example, in the small branch of Frontignan (Hérault) where Astrid, the new manager, is also helped by the association. Report as the Enfoirés tour begins this Tuesday, January 14 at the Montpellier arena for a series of concerts until Sunday.

No matter the biting cold, they will be there, like every Tuesday morning, some arriving at dawn, determined to wait, for the weekly opening of the Restos du cœur branch in Frontignan (Hérault).

A “small” center of “130 beneficiaries, including elderly people or single mothers”, says Astrid, the new manager.

With a benevolent eye on the comings and goings of the beneficiaries, she pulls out all the stops, a slight stress showing on her face. Just think: registered with the Restos for three years to make ends meet, she who lives alone with her daughter, became a volunteer a year ago, she has been running the center for a month.

“When you see how hard life is”

“I said “no”, then “yes”… When you see how hard life is, you feel useful, you work for a good cause. In fact, it feels good to help… And then I have time and the energy”, smiles Astrid, herself always in need of food.

“When you don't have to do any shopping, you manage your bills better”, she says in front of Monique, 60, who is getting ready to leave with her basket full.

“I have endives, rice, pasta, vegan sticks that give me meat”, lists the sixty-year-old looking at her bag.

This woman from Sète, who worked in a retirement home, lives alone and with an income of €800, she can't get by. She spends €270 on rent, a few euros to buy clothes “at the thrift store”, but also €30 each month to pay the repair bills for her old car or €80 for gas.

“I had the means, I don't have them anymore, food lasts me a week”

“And I don't turn on the heating, otherwise it increases my bill… There's not much left in the end”, she calculates. “I thank all the Restos du Coeur, people say: “It's shameful”. But shameful of what ? At my age ? I had the means, I don't have them anymore. Me … week.”

And to help herself, Monique consults the recipes of the Restos de l'Hérault, pinned on the walls of the vast premises, a former barracks.

The number of beneficiaries continues to increase in the region. Sophie Wauquier

“Some came once or twice a month, now people won't miss a single food distribution, they need it all the time, it's a strong trend”, observes Sylvie Cadic, Occitanie delegate of the association with 13 departmental associations, 219 activity centers and 8,700 volunteers.

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Beneficiaries living on the street have increased sharply by +30%

She confirms “the precariousness that has set in in the region as everywhere in France”, with many elderly people, single-parent families and more and more people on the streets: + 30% for the 2023-24 campaign, or 221,000 who came to visit the association in Occitanie. Who always welcomes more new beneficiaries, year after year.

“I registered four more today, that's the average each week”, says Ingrid, sitting at the small table that serves as her desk.

“A lady made me cry this morning, you get involved in people's lives, she had tears in her eyes, in distress, just housed with her three children… Life is complicated.”

The forty-year-old must manage the team of 18 volunteers – “a golden team that help me”–, place orders and delivery notes each week, ensure the cold chain and hygiene, focus on early childhood, a national priority this year for the Restos du cœur and therefore also manage registrations according to income scales.

Patrice, at exactly 50 years old, will benefit from food aid for the first time on January 14. He has just enrolled in Frontignan and is taking responsibility.

“I'm a fan of Coluche, it's my generation”

“I've just lost my job and my apartment, I'm at my mother's who has a small pension… I've never asked anyone for help, at 50, you realize ?

I admit that now, it's harder than before… But I'm not proud, when I need help, I ask for it, so that we can eat our fill”, this man with the affable smile and the little goatee on his chin tells us. “And I'm a Coluche fan, that's my generation.”

So Patrice, who is looking for work in catering, eats pasta with tomato sauce, collects unsold baskets from supermarkets, “€4 for four kilos of endive” and connects to Too good to go, a geolocation application that lists, locally, anti-waste baskets at very low cost.

The trend needs to be confirmed, but the Restos, whose financial health is improving after last year's crisis, have been able to raise their scales. And have been delivering more meals since the campaign began seven weeks ago.

A peak in Aude with +76% of meals distributed

“We have seen a 30% increase in the number of meals distributed in Occitanie, with a peak in Aude, +76%”, specifies Sylvie Cadic, the regional delegate.

In this ocean of precariousness, the warming concerts of the Enfoirés in Montpellier will also benefit the most deprived. Astrid is going to lend a hand, volunteering on the site.

“I love Sopra”

“Some want to see Chabal, others Bruel… I love Sopra (Soprano, Editor's note)!”, she says, amused.

Above all, she is delighted to send five beneficiaries, five women, who managed to find a car to go to the opening concert on January 14. They are nurturing them with a maternal voice, over the phone, when one of them, a single mother of six children, “with tears in her eyes” upon learning that she would be going to a concert, asks her about the arrangements: “All five of you are leaving and I will be there”, she reassures.

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