"When I took over this organisation from my father in 2005, about 300, maximum 600 people came every time," says Heikki Hursti, the main organiser at the charity organisation Veikko ja Lahja Hurstin Laupeudentyö in Kallio. "Now every day when we're open, we get 2,400-2,600 people from all around Helsinki."

VEIKKO ja Lahja Hurstin Laupeudentyö is one of the few places offering help for people in Helsinki. Twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:00-14:00, they distribute food, and on Mondays they give clothes.

On 3 December, a small, elderly lady is waiting for the clock to turn to 11:00 – then it's possible to collect food. "Come, come," call the friendly volunteers, one of them wearing a Christmas hat. She steps closer. Just before going to the office of the warehouse-sized building on Helsinginkatu to talk to me, Heikki Hursti delves into the refrigerator and hands some packaged meat to the lady.

The elderly are only one group who come to the charity, explains Hursti. Besides them also students, the unemployed, single parents and people on low-paid jobs need help. "Also people come who have moved to Finland for work. Often they speak Russian or Estonian but not a word in Finnish," says Hursti. "And families come, with children."

Poverty in Finland • Based on the OECD statistics from 2012, the Finnish poverty rate was 6.6%, meaning that more than 358,000 people earned less than half of the median income (approx €2,850). • According to Eurostat, 11.8% of Finnish population was at risk of poverty, meaning that their disposable income, adjusted for family size and composition, was below the risk-of-poverty threshold that is set at 60% of the national median as of 2013. • UNICEF report "Measuring child poverty" with the data from 2009 shows that 5.3% of Finnish children live in relative poverty – in a household in which disposable income, when adjusted for family size and composition, is less than 50% of the national median income. • The child deprivation rate is 2.5% in Finland, meaning that these children lack several important items in their household, like three meals in a day and quiet place with enough light for homework.

For some, the charity is a constant need, but others just need to get by until they start receiving governmental support, for example, after losing a job. "With these slow-moving bureaucracy wheels, it can take half a year until they get help," says Hursti, "but meanwhile they don't have any money for food."

When people come to the charity, they are able to receive staple foods and other necessary things that are stacked all around the building. The organisation is cooperating with many stores who give them leftover goods with best-before dates that are nearing expiry. They also have contracts with big companies, like Saarioinen or Unilever. "We couldn't work without all of these companies," says Hursti.

Besides this, the organisation couldn't function without help from people. Hursti explains that it is possible to donate money, come to help as a volunteer or give them food and other items.

"Now, the elderly knit socks and hats, send them to us and we put them into the Christmas packages," says Hursti. "Thankfully we're in a situation that even more help is offered than we can receive. People have a great urge to help."

Food has never run out

Besides food, Veikko ja Lahja Hurstin Laupeudentyö distributes clothes, laundry and sheets, which brings around 300 people every Monday. The need for this help has grown as well, but not so rapidly compared with the number of people who come on the food distribution days, which have multiplied.

Hursti believes that one certain reason for this is the rising number of unemployed, but now people also have the courage to come and aren't as shamed of it as they may have been previously. More people always come towards the end of the month when wages and subsidies have run out, and also before Christmas.

Together with the growing need for help, the organisation has started to receive more donations as well. Hursti says that each year more companies and people have heard about them and offer a helping hand.

"As a Christian I also believe that when there's more need for help, God also gives it. We have never run out of food. Even once when 3,100 people came, this coincided with more donations given the same day."

Hursti believes that poverty is a big problem and, although it has always existed, the gap between the rich and the poor has now grown. "The rich become richer and the poor poorer," he explains. Although rents and taxes have increased, support has remained the same, he adds.

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TEXT & IMAGE: MERLE MUST

HELSINKI TIMES