The Red Cross makes its premises more attractive, which remains open to everyone.
At the bottom of the quai de Rochebelle, avenue du Capitaine-Albert, in Alès, the various Red Cross services are distributed over the premises. Food aid, first aid training, social samu, in particular, are organized around the central courtyard. At the end of it, in a corner, the Vestiboutique occupies two rooms. On the one hand, clothing for adults; on the other, the little ones’ wardrobes, toys and haberdashery.
“We are trying to make a more attractive to be like in a real fashion store, explains Cathy, by folding two models. The thrift store being in tune with the times, we have wanted to revitalize and present differently. “ The pieces present come from donations from individuals, or from supermarkets which deliver their surplus and unsold products. “What remains goes to the recycling center” , explains Michèle Coste, vice-president of the Alésienne Red Cross.
People do not dare to come so as not to take the place of those who need it
This new youth of the store also corresponds to an essential message that the solidarity institution tries to hammer home: the Vestiboutique is not reserved for one category of the population. “People do not dare to come so as not to take the place of those who need it, regrets the vice-president. While buying something is an act of solidarity and it is a budget that allows us to balance other actions. “
Outside purchases do not prevent volunteers from giving certain parts to people who cannot even pay the 50 centimes or one euro for a piece of clothing. On the contrary, external buyers also allow these “largesse”.
According to the seasons and needs
Better organized than a thrift store, the Vestiboutique changes according to the seasons and needs: at the end of the holidays, it offered “satchels filled” with stationery; she is preparing for the winter sports season, while having already sorted out what will constitute the summer reserve. Like Dior or Gaultier, the Vestiboutique operates one year in advance.
Always more food aid
Wednesdays, every fortnight, on case ; on Friday for emergencies.
Food aid from the Red Cross is not weakening in these times of the end of the pandemic. “We go through the social workers, who send us people, explains Françoise Lecomte, local director of social action for the association. The file goes to committee. Then, people come every two weeks.”
“We have everything, says the director. Lonely people, students, young people who depend on the local mission, people who work but cannot reach both ends, etc. But since the pandemic newcomers have mostly been students and working people. ” The association thus receives between 50 and 80 families per week.
37 municipalities to provide assistance
In addition to people in need in Alès, the local Red Cross provides 37 municipalities, up to lands where their counterparts from Saint-Ambroix or Anduze are competent.
In Alès, the association calls on around 105 volunteers during the year, not counting the employees responsible for to pass first-aid certificates (on Saturdays, in general) or those involved in the Samu social marauding which, although the latter no longer has access to the city center, continues to deliver to the accommodation centers of the Cévennes capital.
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