Muslim Volunteers Step Up to Feed Elderly During French Lockdown

"We work closely with them and rely on about thirty of our members to provide patrols and meal distributions. Since the beginning of confinement, we have gone from 80 families followed to 230. Without the visits of our members, some would not be able to eat," explains Aziz El Jaouhari, president of the association, to Le Parisien.

According to him, the association sends a team to about fifteen municipalities in the Mantes region. It is responsible for distributing food parcels. In total, more than a ton of food has already been donated, including 580 kg of dry goods and 320 kg of fresh produce distributed to families in need.

"Fortunately they are there. Every Saturday, my wife, our three children and I have our package," confides a family man from Rosny-sur-Seine. "Since the crisis, we have been without resources. I worked illegally on construction sites and I obviously don’t have access to partial unemployment," he adds.

"They are the only ones still open," say Christelle and her husband who discovered the Muslim association on the internet. Since March, this couple has been living a desperate situation. The restaurant where her husband works has been closed. "He will only receive his salary in two months. So, in the meantime, we have to live," says this resident of Mantes-la-Jolie. She is delighted to have benefited from the solidarity of the association, which has offered her a box of fresh produce.