The saddest place in Lithuania: with nothing to eat, the unemployed, pensioners and single mothers queue every day.

Almost 300 men and women, young and old, line the door of the “Vilties centras” charity canteen every day and wait in a long line without knowing what they will receive. These include food, clothing, books, sometimes household chemicals, all necessary household appliances, and even furniture. There is a lot of competition in the queue, everyone wants to get ahead of the box, because they hope to fall among the lucky ones who have also received an invitation to the public sauna. This often leads to disputes and even confusion. This is no longer surprising, because when a person is bad, when money is lacking for the most basic things, but who would become irritable and angry, and if necessary, fight for yourself and your family with your nails and fists. Therefore, there is nothing to wonder about. These are human qualities.

Usually, when there was no quarantine, people could enter the canteen, have a free lunch there, and then pick up another ration of charity. Regular visitors were divided into four shifts and grouped so that everyone could fit at the tables and have enough for everyone. However, when the threatening coronavirus was introduced, the rules changed. There was a window in the door of the canteen and everything was betrayed at once. Whoever has come will receive a charity for himself.

People began lining up in a long tangled queue, making spaces of at least a meter from each other. Naturally, the queue looks infinitely large, as if the flow of people to come has grown strongly. “Ten or twenty newcomers have turned up, but no more,” says Nina Rusakova, deputy director of the “Vilties centras” Charity and Support Center in charge of the cantina.

She has been working here since it opened in 2007, so she sees all the changes and trends better than anyone. The cantina manager finds it strange that there are people in Lithuania who deny the crisis and say that the country is currently living well. “This is not the case, just look at the people standing in line, talk to them and you will understand how many and what serious problems our country has,” recommends N. Rusakova.

Remember the problems faced by those facing problems: very little pension for the elderly, very little benefit for the unemployed and disabled, single mothers and single fathers who have lost their income, people who have returned from prison and are unhappy, homeless people , without families and relatives, prostitutes. , drug addicts, alcoholics. “No one comes happy if they are already standing next to our building, which means they have serious problems and no one else could help. After all, we don’t share money, we don’t give work, we can only feed ourselves. If a person cannot afford to buy a loaf of bread or a package of milk, what does that mean? This means that something bad has happened, “says N. Rusakova, who organizes catering, wisely about his visitors. Every business day, the institution he runs feeds between 400 and 500 hungry mouths, and about 160 portions travel from here to another charity.

Some men and women come to this cantina from the first day of opening. Nothing good has happened in his life during those thirteen years. However, there are many stories where people get up and live and come to the cafeteria no longer to order food, but to donate something themselves. Money or old clothes.

I asked Mrs. Nina what she and her colleagues decided that the man was worthy of charity. The formula is quite simple: newcomers must complete a special questionnaire, which should indicate what difficulties the person faced, what happened in the bad life, that charity was needed. Nina has estimated that approximately 80 to 85 percent of such questionnaires fully meet the criteria. The rest are inadequate or difficult to verify because, for example, homeless people often don’t have any documents that allow officials to track data, but they are still given charity.

The queuing people obviously live hard, messed up, dirty. It’s not nice to judge from the looks, but you can really see that his situation is difficult. However, there are also people waiting in the box with stylish clothes, delightfully scented, dressed not only in stylish clothes, but also with cheap accessories. I asked the manager of the canteen how this phenomenon could be explained.

“Many of our visitors get beautiful new clothes here, so they look good. After all, if there’s no money, it doesn’t mean he’s messy and doesn’t want to look good. Not a single visitor to the latter tries to care and not break. When I see that someone has dressed up, I smelled, I am very happy, which means that person still has hope, “explained N. Rusakova.

At the Hope Center, people facing difficulties are greeted not only by the cafeteria manager, but also by twenty volunteers. These are people who come every day without money to work in food stores, a clothing store, a kitchen, and a dispensary at the box office.

“It just caught our eye then. All of our chefs work without pay, our driver works without pay. These are extremely good people,” says the manager.

Until quarantine, the canteen prepared a hearty two-course lunch: a soup and a hot plate. However, as of March 16, soup is only distributed through the box. It is a half-liter bottle for one person.

“We cook grain, vegetable and meat soup. We are always changing something, but the base is always the same: the soup must be nutritious for a person to be satisfied for at least half a day,” say the women who volunteer in the kitchen. In addition, each person is served 8 slices of bread and 2-3 or even 4 different foods.Sometimes it is raw meat, sometimes some meat product: sausages, hot dogs or ham, often divided into yogurts, desserts of Curd.

“The food we distribute to charity comes to us from the Food Bank, as well as from various retail chains and a bank canteen. We often receive very tasty desserts or even cakes so that people never know what they will get. Such a surprise she is always ready for soup, ”explained the deputy director.

I asked him if the state supports him in any way: “We only receive 52 thousand euros a year from the Vilnius municipality, it is not much, but we have to turn around. Now he said that he would add some money due to the fact that we had additional costs due to the quarantine: we had to buy disposable plates to take away, as well as masks, gloves and disinfectant liquid, “says the interlocutor.

Women standing by the box by day of the month can say there will be a lot of work or less. It turns out that every month for 10 to 20 days the flow drops a little, because at that moment in the country pensions and benefits are paid, and as long as people have money, do not go here. As soon as they finish, they line up again. And so it was constantly, except during the quarantine period. Neither March nor April felt a decrease.

“Those who traditionally don’t come to us at that time have been replaced by new people who have lost their jobs, their homes, and the like. Such disasters happen to someone every day, and there have been many of them during this difficult period. But not everyone knows about us yet, not everyone dares to come, “says Ms. Nina.

Former electrician Remigijus retired two years ago, but he does not have enough money: he spends several hundred euros on taxes and medicines. Therefore, eating comes to the charity canteen. “Very sad pension in Lithuania, very difficult, there is nothing to hide here. I just don’t know what to do, what else could help. I am seriously ill, constantly lying in hospitals. And now I was lying, just two days ago. I came here from Immediately because I put all the money in medicine, “he says. When he approached the woman in the box, he asked her for two jars of soup. There are also visitors who ask for four or five, saying that they will take the rest to hungry relatives.

Tadziūnė, who comes to the canteen every day, has made many friends here. While waiting in line for other people, he tells interesting stories from his life or recites poems that he himself has written. One, the most recent, was recited now, before giving a brief interview. “I am old, nobody gives me work and my pension is very small, so it is not enough for me.” It’s not fun, but I come here. Not only do I take charity, but I also give it to myself: I leave old books to distribute to others who like to read, ”says Tadziūnė.

Several women, hearing the man’s poems, were upset that he was not giving them peace of mind.

“It is impossible to stay still, one dictates poems, another talks about the war, all with their own affairs. That wait is very annoying, especially when all kinds of grandmothers start asking us to skip them … You miss one, the other will come Soon, so I don’t do that. The first comes, the first you will receive, “Irena made no secret of her outrage, calling herself unhappy about unemployment.

Another visitor to the charity canteen, who declined to say her name, said she noted that many newcomers had appeared during the quarantine, but are now gradually disappearing.

“A lot of people lost their job and left here, but when it gets hot and berries, mushrooms and even snails appear in the woods, everyone is going to collect and earn money.” The worst here will be in the fall when the second wave of coronavirus arrives. Then there will probably be twice as many people, and the most important thing is that there is enough soup for everyone, ”said the short-haired, shiny-haired woman. He also complained that he never receives sauna vouchers and that you always have to fight for them. “They never stay, everyone wants to be there, especially the homeless, because they can shower,” explained the regular guest at the canteen.

The “Center of Hope” can be supported by anyone who wants it: all you have to do is assign your monetary donation to this place by transferring the money to a bank account, or what is unfortunate can be brought directly to the canteen. Most people bring food, unnecessary old furniture, or clothing. They are kindly received here and immediately distributed to those in need.