Norfolk charity launches Latvia campaign
 2010: Norfolk-based charity Hope for Latvia launches its Winter Fundraising Campaign to help provide hundreds of Latvian families with emergency food packages this winter.
A lack of basic necessities like warm clothing, nutrition and heating make surviving the cold very difficult for families in Riga. Hope for Latvia’s partner church in Riga has been empowered by the government to deliver 1400 European Union (EU) emergency food packages to Latvian families.
The recession has hit Latvia extremely hard. Figures calculated before the global crisis put latvia’s poverty rate as the highest in Europe, even before the 18% decrease in national income. As a result, government cuts have seen benefits drop from 30-70%, placing even greater pressure on the underprivileged, and prompting the EU to supply emergency food packages to the country.
Good News Church currently distribute some of these parcels to more than 300 people every Saturday at a special service with a free lunch, yet they do not have adequate facilities to store the number of parcels they have been allocated for distribution. Both perishable and non-perishable food suffers in the extreme temperatures of Riga’s seasons.
 Hope For Latvia has committed to raising £1800 in order to purchase a refrigerated container [pictured right] that maintains a constant temperature, enabling the church to increase their capacity to store food and reach more families in need. The Winter Fundraising Campaign run by volunteer-led Hope for Latvia will significantly improve the way in which people live: changing their daily lives and providing them with a tangible and genuine hope for the future.
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