Moscow, 23 April 2018 – X5 Retail Group ("X5" or the "Company"), a leading Russian food retailer (LSE and MOEX ticker: "FIVE"), and the Rus Food Foundation announce the results of the Basket of Kindness food marathon in Yekaterinburg. On 21 April, the Foundation’s volunteers collected over 11 tonnes of food at 160 Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel stores across the city. Together with social service employees, they have already begun distributing food sets to 1,800 low-income elderly residents of the Sverdlovsk Region.
More than 400 volunteers, including 300 from the Rus Food Foundation and 133 from among X5 formats’ staff, took part in staging and running the event. The marathon was supported by the regional Ministry of Social Policy, associations of volunteering students, Mercy Orthodox Service and other non-profit organisations.
Over the year, X5 Retail Group and the Rus Food Foundation, Russia’s first food bank, plan to bring marathons to five cities. The first marathon was run on 3 March in Kazan, gaining support from the Tatarstan Government, associations of volunteering students, the Alpari Charitable Fund and religious organisations of different confessions. Customers of 220 Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel stores bought and donated more than 13 tonnes of food for needy elderly people across Tatarstan. On 21 April, Yekaterinburg followed suit, with more marathons to be hosted in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara.
Previously, the Basket of Kindness programme collected food donations only across a few stores in each city. In 2017, X5 Retail Group and the Rus Food Foundation held the event at 803 Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel stores, gathering some 80 tonnes of non-perishable food items. The aid went to 6,000 low-income families and seniors from various Russian regions.
This year, the initiative will span all Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel stores in each host city.