2700 euro
Surplus is a social shop located in Blokkestraat, the same street as the Alpro Zwevegem offices. Nearly 100 underprivileged families from Zwevegem, eligible through the 'Sociaal Huis' (formerly 'OCMW' (Public Center for Social Welfare)), can shop there at very advantageous prices. The shop is open every other Thursday afternoon. It offers basic products such as food (including fresh vegetables and fruits), cleaning and maintenance products, etc. Additionally, by offering people coffee and a snack, Surplus makes it a pleasant social activity.
The support from the Fund would be used in three ways. Surplus can often buy second-choice food in bulk at a lower price, such as large blocks of cheese. To serve as many families as possible, they need to repackage them into smaller portions under food safety conditions. Therefore, they wish to purchase a vacuum packing machine and an initial stock of vacuum bags. Secondly, Surplus wants to increase its storage capacity for frozen products by purchasing a new freezer. Thirdly, the current old vacuum cleaner has reached the end of its life. Surplus would like to buy a new one to keep the space clean.