Habitat for Humanity: Vulnerable children in Buftea receive hot meals at newly opened BufKids cafeteria

Habitat for Humanity Romania, the Hercules Association, and partner companies inaugurated the BufKids cafeteria this week, offering hot meals to 50 vulnerable children in Buftea, a town roughly 20 km from Bucharest. The cafeteria has its own kitchen and is an extension of the BufKids Center.

The initiative supports efforts to fight poverty and promote access to education through adequate nutrition.

"It would be ineffective, to say the least, to provide vulnerable children with the most modern educational methods and opportunities before meeting their basic needs. One or two meals a day at the BufKids canteen, containing all the nutrients growing children need, is the starting point to feed young minds, to inspire children with the confidence they need – confidence in themselves and the future," said Petruța Stănescu, Executive Director Hercules Association.

In his turn, Roberto Pătrășcoiu, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Romania, stated: "We are proud to announce the completion of the Bufkids project, a center that will have a significant impact on the education and lives of vulnerable children in Buftea. Through this project, we were able to offer not only a safe and welcoming place for education but also a cafeteria where children can benefit from a hot meal, essential for their development."

Penny Romania, the main partner of the project, prepared the first meal in the new cafeteria under the guidance of chef Nicolai Tand, together with 15 children from the center.

The cafeteria was built with the help of volunteers from the companies that also provided financial support. Twenty teams with a total of 523 volunteers contributed to the project with 3138 working hours.

Habitat for Humanity Romania builds decent housing for low-income families and builds from scratch or rehabilitates public utility centers in vulnerable communities. It also runs programs for prevention and response to natural disasters and social housing advocacy programs.

From 1996 until now, Habitat for Humanity has helped over 100,000 Romanians to have a home and has built or rehabilitated over 5,100 homes. More than 43,000 Romanian and foreign volunteers were mobilized for the organization's projects.

The Hercules Association coordinates two day centers for vulnerable children: the Hercules Day Center (founded in 2007 in Costești, Argeș county) and the BufKids Day Center (founded in Buftea in 2020 on the model of the Hercules center). Both day centers aim to combat school dropout and functional illiteracy among children aged 6-14.

(Photo source: Habitat for Humanity Romania)