Valletta soup kitchen serving up to 120,000 meals awarded European Citizens Prize

The Franciscan Friars’ soup kitchen in Valletta has been awarded the European Citizens’ Prize for Malta, two years since the start of its operations.

The charitable organisation was nominated for the prize by Nationalist MEP David Casa (EPP).

The award is organised by the European Parliament and recognises outstanding contributions to the promotion of common values and fundamental rights.

Casa nominated the Soup Kitchen Valletta OFM project for the Citizen’s Prize earlier this year on the basis of having created “a community of solidarity and understanding to uphold the dignity of those at risk of poverty and social exclusion.”

The Franciscan Friars began Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta to respond to those on the social periphery who had nowhere else to turn to. In 2022, the project served almost 120,000 meals, feeding over 30,000 men, women and children.

Those who seek out the soup kitchen are locals and foreigners, from different religious and cultural backgrounds, but all in precarious situations.

“I congratulate Fr Marcellino for the well-deserved recognition of his efforts during these past challenging years,” Casa stated. “Through his work, the soup kitchen upheld the dignity of those who found themselves in a vulnerable situation when they had nowhere else to turn.”

But Casa also warned that the fact the soup kitchen was needed, is a clear policy failure. While praising the efforts of Fr Marcellino for creating a safety net for those in need, Casa emphasised that soup kitchens are no solution to poverty. “Nobody should need to rely on soup kitchens to feed their children,” Casa claimed. “Poverty needs to be addressed effectively, and the need for soup kitchens is a sign that the system has failed.”

While noting the need to enact policy with a much stronger social conscience, Casa once again thanked and congratulated Fr Marcellino for ensuring that “indifference did not trump solidarity.”

The Franciscan Friars began operating the Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta project in 2021, soon after inflation of food prices drove those on the periphery to seek aid. It is a prime example of European solidarity among citizens.

By relying on donations and volunteers, the project created a community of solidarity and understanding to uphold the dignity of those at risk of poverty and social exclusion. At the core of the project is a concern with the most fundamental European right: human dignity. Following the hardships of the pandemic, many families and individuals were in significantly worse off positions to fend off ensuing inflation.

“The Valletta project is fostering a better understanding of those most marginalised in society, not just those on low incomes due to in-work poverty, but also those recently released from prison, those battling addiction and the homeless,” says Fr Marcellino Micallef. “Human dignity and rights are ultimately about hope. Projects like this serve to organise hope.”

By relying on donations and volunteers, the project has created a community of solidarity and understanding to uphold the dignity of those at risk of poverty and social exclusion. By being a safety net for those at the very edge of society, the project has been a prime example of European values, not least of cooperation and solidarity.

“Insufficient resources can unfortunately limit rights,” said David Casa. “Hence why the Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta project deserves commendation for its efforts to uphold the inviolable principle that make our democracies better places to live: human dignity.”