Whilst we are snuggled up in our warm homes or apartments, looking out excitedly at the hailstones falling in Benidorm at the moment – or yesterday’s snow across Calpe, Javea and beyond, spare a thought for those that do not have that luxury… the homeless. Temperatures have plummeted over the last few days and that prompted Martin Kyme, President of Eco-Vida and his volunteers to reach out, to the often forgotten of our society. They went out - yesterday to Benidorm and today in Alicante, searching out for people sleeping in doorways, abandoned building and under bridges where they handed out blankets, food and hot drinks… all of whom where so appreciative.
Many were just happy to have someone to chat to for a bit and receive some dry blankets in this awful weather. One man, Juan, a 45 year old with no income has lived underneath a bridge in a makeshift home with little more than an old mattress and a shopping trolley for the last two years. He said " it's times like this, when help from people like Eco-Vida is really appreciated, this is the coldest I have felt in the last two years living here under this bridge"… heart-breaking in this day and age.
The blankets come from the blue Eco-Vida recycling bins which the charity have dotted around the region and the money for the sandwiches and hot drinks from the funds which they raise from the clothes which are collected.
Over the two days Eco-Vida managed to distribute 100 filled rolls and hot drinks and around 200kg of clean dry blankets and in addition Martin handed over four 25kg sacks of blankets to the Alicante refuge for the homeless, for which Alba the co-ordinator was truly grateful.
What surprised Martin was the sheer numbers sleeping rough in comparison to last year, probably a consequence of the economic situation. Often you pass homeless people, some with a container for money and walk on, not really knowing whether giving money will just be spent of a can of beer and so making the situation worse. Eco-Vida was set up with the sole objective to help the needy of our society and thanks to their small network of used clothing recycling bins, which are placed up and down the Costa Blanca and the goodwill of the general public, they manage to raise funds and also create employment for people in situations of risk and danger.
If you would like to help Eco-Vida with their good causes then all you have to do is locate one of their distinctive blue used clothing recycling bins and deposit whatever you don't not need into the bin. We can use all types of clothing, footwear, blankets, bed-sheets bags and belts. Or visit the website: https://asociacionecovida.es/