Thank you all for your kind support and help throughout the past year. Unfortunately it has been a year that has brought many sad and arduous times for everyone, in all sectors of life.
We appreciate that the situation is not going to improve in the near future and so I make this begging plea on behalf of the charity Reach Out Extienda La Mano
Even after employing the most stringent means to try and reduce our costs and outgoings Reach Out Extienda La Mano is near to closure.
We support 50+ Homeless men and women, providing daily food parcels and weekend bags. Showers are provided to maintain their cleanliness to some sort of reasonable state. We provide clothing and bedding when requested, and also a washing facility for clothes.
We also support 40 families sent to us from Social Services, accounting for 140 souls. Luckily we have been supported by a marvellous grant for food from The Church of Latter Day Saints (The Mormons). This will ensure food is available for nearly one year, ending in July.
Due to costs we have had to close our Shop in C/ Dona Sinforosa as it was not bringing in enough to cover its costs.
Our Van which has been damaged while parked in the street at our back door, is now in repair, and will again cost us funds which we can ill afford, if we want to get it back on the road. It’s absence has reduced our capacity to collect or deliver furniture and other donations.
Our Shop is now costing us to keep open, but as this is our main source of income we cannot do without it. No one is shopping and understandably there is no money in the community; wages are low or non-existent in some cases.
Unfortunately we are never included in any of the Ayuntamiento Press releases regarding helping the homeless and needy families, even though we have been in existence in Torrevieja for 10 years, always meeting our Mission Statement, so we need all the help we can get to carry on out our work, helping those less fortunate than ourselves.
To try and raise some much needed funds we are now going to have a 1€ SALE on ALL CLOTHES.
David S Young
This is very unfortunate – they do such good work. Sadly there are probably many people like myself who would like to continue to support them, as I have done in the past, but who in the current situation are too afraid to go out too far from home. The elderly unvaccinated and without their own transport are reluctant to risk public transport. I wish them well.