"We don't think it is reasonable to involve more than a thousand volunteers in 55 supermarkets all over Estonia during the period of coronavirus spread," Toidupank founder Piet Boerefijn told ERR News.

The food drive, which invites members of the public to donate food to their local food bank at regular intervals through the year, was scheduled to take place on the weekend of April 3-4, and is now postponed to the weekend of May 8-9, pending the situation improving, Boerefijn said.
"We sincerely hope that all the people who were ready to volunteer in April, understand the situation and are able to join us in May as well," he continued.

The postponement does not mean that no food donation can take place in the meantime.

"People can always donate food in the food banks' permanent donation boxes in all Prisma supermarkets in Estonia (except for the Vanalinna Prisma) as well as Ülemiste Rimi, Sõpruse Rimi and many more supermarkets all over Estonia," Boerefijn added.

Toidupank was established in 2010 to help prevent food waste and fight poverty, and works every day to rescue food from supermarkets, food producers and importers which would otherwise have gone to waste, and involving the local community. Its food drives involve collecting types of food with long expiry dates only.

Toidupank has a central distrubution warehouse in Tallinn's Lasnamäe district, from where food is redistributed across the country.

Download the ERR News app for Android and iOS now and never miss an update!