A private bakery project in Santa Clara provides free food packages each month to 10 vulnerable families in its community and additionally supplies them with two loaves of bread daily, the official Villa Clara broadcaster CMHW reported on Tuesday.
This is the Local Development Project "Pan pa'ti," located on Lorda Street in the provincial capital, where bread and sweets are made. The team has decided to expand its activities to include social assistance initiatives primarily aimed at elderly individuals living alone.
The initiative arose with the participation of leaders from the People's Council, the project workers, and Otto Orozco Rodríguez, a member of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution in Villa Clara.
Orli Matos, project coordinator, explained that the beneficiary families were identified together with the community. In addition to the monthly modules and two loaves of bread per day, the project supports a children's home without parental care and provides snacks to the teachers of a nearby school.
"All the vulnerable that arrive here are given their bread," Matos stated while describing the scope of the initiative.
Brígida Natalia Pérez Gutiérrez, one of the beneficiaries, recounted the difficulties she faced before receiving assistance. "I couldn't make ends meet at all, but now I can," she said.
Other beneficiaries, such as Alejandro de Jesús Casal and Clotildo Oscar González Suárez, expressed their gratitude for the assistance and requested that this type of aid be expanded.
Casal noted that the support is particularly significant for individuals who cannot fend for themselves and stated that these are "tough times."
The project coordinator himself acknowledged that the country's situation is behind these actions. "One sees the situation in the country, which is very difficult, and out of humanity, we must respond," stated Matos, who believed that greater involvement from other actors would allow for assistance to more vulnerable families.
The initiative Pan pa'ti is part of a growing trend in Cuba, with private sector entities helping to fill the gaps that the government cannot address.
Such actions contrast with the views of Aleida Guevara March, a pediatrician and daughter of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who has described self-employment as "a small cancer within our society".
A few days ago, a family business in Las Tunas donated juices to a pediatric hospital due to the lack of baby food for girls and boys, while a group of sociocultural projects donated medications and sanitary supplies to the Hermanos Cordové pediatric hospital in Manzanillo.
In Ciego de Ávila, the first Community Food Home of the province was inaugurated, managed by a private business, which will serve 10 vulnerable individuals.
An April report from the Food Monitor Program estimated that almost 97% of the Cuban population lacked adequate access to food, with the elderly being among the most affected groups.
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