News

Serve the City Community Dinners

02 August, 2024

Under the partnership between the Vasco Vieira de Almeida Foundation and Serve the City, 70 Viera de Almeida employees, their Families and Alumni helped run two Community Dinners in Lisbon on 19 June and in Porto on 30 July.

The Volunteers who joined the Serve the City team helped prepare meals, organise the venue and ensure all activities during dinner with the guests, creating a safe space for sharing, inclusion, and solidarity. A total of 174 meals were served to socially vulnerable people.

These Community Dinners are a regular get-together for socially vulnerable people, some of whom are homeless. They take place every fortnight in Lisbon and once a month in Porto.

Thank you, @Serve The City for the opportunity to support this initiative!

Testimonies:

"I can sum up another participation in this excellent Fundação VVA initiative as an example of getting more than you give, especially when you have the opportunity to include your family and witness their hapiness during two hours of shared experiences and great learning. We'll all be there at the next opportunity." - João Velez de Lima

"I was dared to participate, and I dared my daughter. I thought that together we would be stronger, for us and for Them, because I confess that I was afraid of the reality that I was about to experience first-hand. And it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience: people appreciating you just for your smile, for listening to them and then being told "I've been clean for 18 years today", for being kind and warm without fear or judgement. The food was needed, yes, but this experience has shown me that helping and just being there for others is very precious for those who receive it and costs nothing for those who give it!" -  Ana Sofia Franca

"Sometimes we want to help, and we don't know how. Serve the City makes helping as simple as turning up, opening your heart, and getting down to business. The experience of providing a proper, tasty meal served with good conversation in an atmosphere of co-operation and mutual help makes up for the intense physical demands of the work. When we left, our bodies were tired, but our hearts were full.” - Marta Rocha

"I had the opportunity this year to be part of the Serve The City dinner for the first time and help serve a hot meal to people in need. It was enriching to help provide this special moment of interaction and to realise the impact we can have on other people's lives. It's a truly important initiative and I recommend that everyone who wants to serve join in." - Mariana Faden

 

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