A beautiful story from Trebinje, people show more solidarity in difficult times

TREBINJE - In the National Kitchen in Trebinje, which operates under the Eparchy of Zahum-Herzegovina and Primorje and is financed mostly by allocations from the budget of the City Administration, the number of donations has increased in the last year, although the number of around eighty users has not changed for a long time The kitchen employees say that they themselves expected an increased number of users, considering the economic crisis, but this did not happen due to a number of different circumstances, among which the work engagement of some users who are at least able to work, and they found at least occasional jobs, while some moved away, which was again replaced by the number of new arrivals.

Gojko Bokić, the cook at the National Kitchen, says that for years it has been working according to the established practice in which one cooked meal is provided for all those who are in a state of social need every working day while during the weekend, users are supplied with dry meals.

"Now, admittedly, it is much easier for us to prepare food, because, in cooperation with the Red Cross, we received a large modern stove from the Government of the Republic of Srpska, while the Organization 'Serbs for Serbs' provided another, so we have old stoves, which would the car often broke down, once the bakery didn't even work, now they replaced it with a new one, on which my colleague and I cook and bake the necessary food much faster, because a few days ago we got a new bakery, dedicated to grilling," says Bokić He adds, they are most grateful to the "Sveti Vukašin" Association, from whom they recently received a large amount of food, because what they receive in food they usually pass on to the National Kitchen, unless they themselves pack special special packages for major Christian holidays.

A large number of donors turn to the Association "Sveti Vukašin", some come directly to the National Kitchen, but all with the aim of helping those who need it "I guess people show more solidarity in difficult times, so since the crisis, they come to us more often to share their excess food with those who don't have enough, so during January we received large quantities of fresh and high-quality food after the hosts passed the baptism celebration, and everything that remains, and it is known that Serbs prepare everything in abundance for the celebration - they don't want to throw it away, but bring it to us and we share everything, so that it can be consumed fresh," adds Bokić.

He says that a large number of householders from the surrounding villages and suburban settlements, when they prepare the winter house and butcher the trout, bring a portion of the fresh meat to the National Kitchen, due to the progress of the house because it has always been nurtured in Herzegovina.

That is why, as they say in the National Kitchen, and this is confirmed by the Center for Social Work of Trebinje and the city authorities, there are no hungry or homeless people in this city, and even those who do not have a permanent address in Trebinje are accommodated in warm rooms and provided they are fed "We have had a number of cases from different parts of Bosnia, as well as the region, where we feed these so-called vagrants in our kitchen for ten days, and they themselves are identified as such by the Center for Social Work or some other service that recommends them to us, so it happened a number of times to provide them with temporary documents, the Center places them in apartments and recommends us for meals, and some simply come to us and tell us that they are passing through Trebinje, but they are hungry and beg us to give them something to eat , which we never refused", continues Bokić.

The Center for Social Work in Trebinje, according to the agreement with the Diocese, has the obligation to determine the lists of beneficiaries of the National Kitchen twice a year, audit and update the lists, and the beneficiaries are mostly elderly and infirm For those who are mobile, food is issued at the kitchen counter, and for those who cannot come, employees of the National Kitchen distribute food in the narrower part of the city, while activists of the Red Cross and employees of the Center for Social Work distribute food in delivery vehicles on the outskirts, and during large on church holidays and weekends, when the kitchen is closed, its residents receive canned food and bread, so that they have meals until Monday.

audits and updates the lists, and the users are mostly elderly and infirm For those who are mobile, food is issued at the kitchen counter, and for those who cannot come, employees of the National Kitchen distribute food in the narrower part of the city, while activists of the Red Cross and employees of the Center for Social Work distribute food in delivery vehicles on the outskirts, and during large on church holidays and weekends, when the kitchen is closed, its residents receive canned food and bread, so that they have meals until Monday.

audits and updates the lists, and the users are mostly elderly and infirm For those who are mobile, food is issued at the kitchen counter, and for those who cannot come, employees of the National Kitchen distribute food in the narrower part of the city, while activists of the Red Cross and employees of the Center for Social Work distribute food in delivery vehicles on the outskirts, and during large on church holidays and weekends, when the kitchen is closed, its residents receive canned food and bread, so that they have meals until Monday.

.