City Hall amends food handout program amid lockdown

As authorities strive to ensure that Greeks comply with a lockdown imposed on Monday, the City of Athens is stepping up its efforts to help homeless citizens who do not have the option of self-isolating and those on low incomes who attend City Hall’s food distributions.

The municipality’s department for reception and solidarity, which runs the capital’s support programs for the homeless and poor, has amended its approach to the special circumstances demanded by the pandemic. Grigoris Leon, who heads the department, said City Hall was launching “an alternative form of food distribution” in response to the crisis.

Municipal authorities have registered around 1,500 people who regularly attend food distributions and are now collecting daily packages from their operational center, at a military facility in Goudi. Next week, to prevent unnecessary movement, the department will distribute food packages to those people, Leon said.