Friday, February 4, 2011

How the Norwegian Community of Mogan has been contributing!

The Norwegian Community of Mogán has been continuously supporting our food purchases with impressive generosity. We are deeply touched and proud to have such wonderful people amongst us. The spirit of "Dugnad" (service to the community) that they are showing us is not only extremely welcome, it is a humbling example of how much can be achieved when people work together!

Plaques handmade by JJ Falcón

Some of the food we distribute every Tuesday afternoon.
Coin donations from the 2009 Christmas period came to over 1,300 Euros...
The students at the Norwegian School of Gran Canaria have, for two years in a row, brightened Christmas for needy children by purchasing gifts for other children and each gift was prettily wrapped and labelled with the age of the recipient and the donor (i.e. from an 8 year old boy to an 8 year old boy).
The "Club Los Amigos" has been tirelessly raising funds by means of numerous activities and in 2010 donated almost 12,000 Euros to us.

The two Norwegian Choirs held a concert in December 2010 and the DVD recording that was produced by Radio Noruega netted almost 6,000 Euros for our Food Project.

The Scandinavian Tourist Church in Puerto Rico has donated more than four thousand Euros to us to date. We gave them this plaque on February 4th in gratitud for their generous support.
A group of lovely private persons who call themselves the "Korttidsminneforeningen" (the Short Memory Club) collected one thousand Euros amongst their friends and donated them to us to make Christmas more enjoyable for the families. We purchased frozen chicken for all the families for Christmas dinner and different favourites for the children for Three Kings' Day.

Groups such as the Bridge Club and the Boccia Club have also helped us with donations. Several individuals have asked friends not to bring them gifts for their birthdays and anniversaries, but to make donations to us instead and these lovely acts of solidarity have brought in 4.300 euros in the past year. Many private individuals have brought in what they called "small" donations - please remember that 20 Euros buys 42 litres of milk. That makes a HUGE difference! No donation is too small if it comes from the heart!

Other solidary people have invited friends to luncheons and dinners and asked them to bring food items. One such occasion netted a shopping-cart full of assorted items.


The basket we have set up at the exit of the Hiperdino Supermarket in Arguineguin has been filled with donations of food all Winter.

Radio Noruega, the daily programme for the Norwegians who live in and visit Mogan, has been keeping the Community informed about us and our needs and operation and we are deeply touched by the tremendous support that has resulted.

We also know that Norwegian residents have been making a concerted effort to be active consumers to help local businesses stay alive. We have seen and deeply appreciate how groups of Norwegians meet in bars and restaurants for many activities and spend money there, how they are purchasing new furniture and doing renovations on their homes that are helping the people of Mogan to keep their jobs and earn their money.

All we can say is: thank you for being here, for being such excellent neighbours and for your unique brand of Dugnad.

Tusen Takk!

Proyecto Vecinal de Alimentos - Neighbours' Food Project Asociación de Vecinos "Las Lomas de Arguineguin"
Neighbours' Association Las Lomas de Arguineguin