The Arnault family, controlling shareholders in the world’s number one luxury goods group LVMH, announced yesterday, Monday, that it was making a 10 million euro gesture of solidarity to help the association Les Restaurants du cœur cope with the growing number of beneficiaries and close its financial year on a sound footing.
If nothing is done to bolster the cash position of the Restaurants du cœur association, which contributes 35% of food aid in France, the organization could close its doors within 3 years.
Like the French government, the Arnault family, controlling shareholders in the LVMH group, are moved by the worrying situation of this key player in the fight against poverty, and have announced a donation of 10 million euros.
A welcome contribution for an organization that needs 35 million euros to break even and operate normally until next winter.
Les Restos du coeur in a critical situation
Les Restaurants du cœur, the non-profit organization (under the French law of 1901) founded in 1985 by comedian and actor Coluche to deliver meals and provide social opportunities to the most vulnerable people in France, has become an integral part of the social fabric and the hearts of the French people, but its existence is under threat.
On Sunday, September 3, on the set of TF1, Restos president Patrick Douret sounded the alarm about the association’s worrying situation, faced with a 35 million euro shortfall to finalize its annual budget.
The cause: a series of economic factors, in particular inflation in the cost of living in France, which has led to a “very significant increase” in the number of the association’s beneficiaries, as well as a drop in donations.
The association also reports “rising operating costs”.
Fortunately, “the appeal to the political and economic forces of our country” to “launch an emergency food plan” has been heard.
Not only has the French government mobilized – pledging a further 15 million euros in aid – but so has the Arnault family, controlling shareholder of the LVMH group, through its donation of 10 million euros. In other words, a major player in the French economy and in the revitalization of local areas through the opening of production sites.
It’s a reprieve for the association, whose figures speak for its indispensable role. In 2022, Les Restaurants du Coeur distributed nearly 170 million meals, 30 million more than the previous year.
Support for vulnerable people
In a press release, the Arnault family explained their donation as a way of “actively contributing to helping a magnificent public-interest association which has been working for the most vulnerable people, without interruption, for almost 40 years.
[arm_restrict_content plan=”registered,” type=”show”]
In the wake of this unprecedented show of support, Antoine Arnault will be visiting the Restos du Cœur on Tuesday September 5, in the presence of Aurore Bergé, the French Minister for Solidarity and Families.
This initiative is in line with the ongoing corporate philanthropy and social responsibility activities of luxury brands and groups, as demonstrated by recent donations to victims of torrential rains in Italy and the fires that ravaged the island of Maui in Tahiti.
A gesture of solidarity made all the more necessary by the ever-increasing poverty in France.
The growing impoverishment of the French
The other underlying difficulty faced by all economic players, including those in the luxury sector, is the increase in forced trade-offs due to the simultaneous rise in energy, consumer goods and transport prices.
This situation not only impacts consumer confidence and willingness to buy. It also increases the downgrading of members of the middle class – the breeding ground of aspirational customers – who used to be the driving force behind purchases of luxury goods (perfumes, sneakers, bags and scented candles…).
According to INSEE, this contraction in the economic and social climate has led to a “slide” into poverty, affecting an estimated 9 million people in France.
Inflation (4.8% on consumer prices in August 2023, over 20% on food in France) is acting as a catalyst, entrenching people already in precarious situations, particularly single women with children, students and foreigners, as Pascal Brice, President of the Fédération des acteurs de la solidarité (FAS) tells Capital magazine.
At the same time, other people on the verge of poverty are also falling through the cracks, particularly the working poor, the employed and self-employed, and self-employed entrepreneurs caught up in the cost of housing.
According to INSEE figures for 2020, poverty is defined in monetary terms as 60% of the French median income, or 1,125 euros per month for one person.
This means that 14.6% of the French population lives below the poverty line.
INSEE uses another, less common method to assess this phenomenon of precariousness: social and material “deprivation”, i.e. not being able to own two pairs of shoes or take a week’s vacation a year.
14% of the French population would face this situation, the highest level since the indicator was created in 2013.
[/arm_restrict_content]
[arm_restrict_content plan=”registered,” ” type=”hide”]
[elementor-template id=”111955″]
[/arm_restrict_content]
Read also > KERING EYEWEAR SUPPORTS HAWAI ISLAND FIRE VICTIMS
Featured photo: © Les Restaurants du Coeur
