Five years ago, Mirjana Mutuc from Novi Sad turned her kitchen into a soup kitchen by preparing meals for her poor fellow citizens. Today, about 200 families count on her, as well as on her daughters Marijana Kresojević and Mina Gavrilov. Since they started the “3M Meal for the Family” Facebook page, the number of people asking for help, as well as those offering it, has increased.
– As we began to be contacted by residents of Novi Sad (Serbia), as well as companies that want to donate money for the purchase of groceries, we had to register the association. Unfortunately, there are always more people who need help, so we never have enough supplies, and everything we do get we immediately distribute. Our beneficiaries are not only people on well fare, there are also families currently going through financial storms. In particular, the number of such calls for help has increased after the price hikes in recent months, says Marijana Kresojević for Politika daily. She cooks for her poor fellow citizens with her mother and sister every Saturday.
They haven’t started preparing meals for others because they have spare time they don’t know what to do with. Actually, they almost don’t have it at all because both of Mirjana’s daughters have three children each. Excess money is not a problem either – they do not hide that they themselves had to count on human kindness in one period of their lives.
– It all started with us preparing food for our friends who needed help. However, the number of people increased, which at one point we could not sustain financially, so we started a Facebook page at a friend’s suggestion. And since then, we have not been alone, a large number of people participate in collecting food so that as many hungry people as possible get meals. And very often it happens that the people whom we helped until a few days ago now come forward wanting to offer help. The best feeling for me is when I get a message: “Thank you, we don’t need help anymore, we’ve found a job…” – adds Marijana.
The Facebook page “3M Meal for the Family” gathers more than 12,000 people and various other life problems are solved on it. For example, they find stoves for families who are currently unable to buy them, collect money for firewood, school supplies, look for and offer jobs… And the fastest thing they do, she adds, is to throw birthday parties.
– When a parent complains that their child’s birthday is in a few days, but they don’t have money for the birthday cake, we announce it in the group and within 15 minutes donors call. And it doesn’t stop there, because someone else signs up to bake rolls, bring juices, someone always sends a birthday present… That’s how the members of the group make sure that no child is sad on their day, Marijana tells us.
This New Year, they were also Santa Claus for 150 children; they organized lunches for both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Christmas, but the most difficult work is yet to come. Namely, as she explains, January is the longest month in terms of the number of requests for help.
– That is why today we will organize a large food collection. The celebrations are over, but we can’t go on a vacation because a large number of families depend on our association and lunch, adds Marijana.