Reading La Tribune this week, we discovered that the Croix-Rouge's Épicerie that we volunteered at is now closed, as of last Thursday. Apparently, the Croix-Rouge determined that there wasn't an urgent need for the Épicerie. The determination was made after a few years of observing that the number of families decreased from 140 to only 45; there were several people who lied about their income; and some others who were frequenting all the food pantries and Catholic charities in town, in addition to the Croix-Rouge. C'est une dommage!
Despite the closing of the épicerie, the Red Cross is still doing good. This weekend is the semi-annual Red Cross Vente de Noël. I thought it would be a small sale, sort of the same size as the Christmas Market in Clarafond. However we were surprised to find how large it was!
Today, we spent a few hours helping unpack hundreds of peluches or plush toys, forming a small mountain of plush bears, bunnies, piggies, even a wild boar, swan and something that looked like a yellow voodoo doll. And then we unpacked, sorted, and stacked small towers of games, puzzles, and electronic toys for kids. I nabbed 2 new Ravensburger puzzles for a bargain! While we unpacked the toys with another volunteer, or bénévole, while a dozen others were folding clothes, books, bags, shoes, etc, etc.
Tomorrow we return to volunteer at the sale. And in the afternoon, R's childhood friend Jacques comes to visit us. I'm looking forward to the sale, and to seeing J tomorrow.
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