Bucharest General Mayor Nicusor Dan said on Wednesday in a Facebook post that ongoing works at the food bank building, the „biggest” such center created by a public authority in Romania, will be completed by the end of the year.

The Social Assistance Directorate is building a social services compound in the Lira-Sebastian area, that will include a food bank, a soup kitchen, a professional training center for the hospitality industry for vulnerable people, a women’s information and counseling center, and day centers for children and adults with disabilities.

„The compound consists of 4 buildings, one of which is already completed, 2 are in the process of completion, and a fourth that is 60% completed. Here, the colleagues from the Social Assistance Directorate will collect, store and distribute food donated for people in need by food producers and retailers, food that is no longer salable but is suitable for consumption. We thus say stop to food waste, we help those who are in risky situations due to financial constraints, and join the ranks of European cities where this concept has been working successfully for many years now,” Nicusor Dan said.

According to him, the compound will also be an energy efficiency standard thanks to the intelligent use of natural resources, including green roofs.

In January 2019, the Social Assistance Directorate General of the Bucharest Municipality announced on the electronic public procurement system SICAP a tender for the realization of the investment project „Food Bank, Soup kitchen, Mother and child assistance, and social and professional reintegration Center”.

In May 2019, the Bucharest City Hall led at that time by Gabriela Firea announced the start of works on the Lira Municipal Compound.

AGERPRES