Offering Hope Through Daily Meals: Transport Vans in Budapest

In Budapest, Hungary, a long-established community kitchen is making an impact by providing nourishing, daily meals. As the need for food assistance continues to grow, especially since the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, the Dankó Street Communal Kitchen is a vital resource for children, families and elderly citizens. 

Founded in the early 1990s, Dankó Street Communal Kitchen provides consistent meals to Budapest residents in need. They provide a hot meal for daycare children, along with breakfast, lunch and dinner for hospitalized people. In addition, the kitchen provides meals for the children of the Dankó Street kindergarten and the students of Susanna Wesley Foundation (WJLF) in Budapest, where most students are from disadvantaged backgrounds with little access to food. 

The kitchen was renting a nine-person bus to deliver meals and purchase supplies daily. However, since the kitchen started distributing meals for Ukrainian refugees, one bus was no longer sufficient to serve the kitchen’s needs. This caused meals to arrive late, so staff and volunteers started using their personal vehicles to help. Past District Governor (PDG) of District 119 András Fésűs says, “In our district, you can see how many homeless people are on the streets and squares every day. A kitchen is being built next to the John Wesley Theological College, and so far, they have tried to deliver food to it using terribly old cars.” 

To address this issue, the District 119 Lions used a US$57,734 Hunger Grant, along with donations from club members, to purchase transport vans for the Dankó Street Communal Kitchen to transport people and food, to the Susanna Wesley Foundation.  

The three vans will help serve 500 people in need each day. These vehicles will allow the kitchen to deliver food to the organization’s nurseries, schools, elderly care homes and wherever people need it most.  

Lions can play a major role in tackling food insecurity through the LCIF Hunger Grant Program, which allows Lions to support school-based feeding programs, food banks, feeding centers and other similar initiatives. Furthering these humanitarian services helps ensure food reaches those in urgent need. In a world where nearly one billion people are dealing with hunger, the Dankó Community Kitchen project shows how Lions’ determination and dedicated service can bring major relief to those who struggle with food insecurity. 

Visit lcif.org/hunger to learn more about LCIF Hunger Grants.