A loaf of bread for your whole family or a pack of sanitary towels for your teenage daughter? Too many parents in the Netherlands are still faced with this difficult choice every month. To support people with a low income, Stichting . builds Rataplan therefore in North Holland together with Jumbo Monique participate in Mootjes mini supermarkets. These are yellow boxes with free products that are placed in the front garden or on the facade of companies or private individuals. And we are proud, because the two newest Mootjes mini supermarkets were placed this week at our stores in Hoorn and Alkmaar!
Accessible
In Horn is the mini supermarket outside next to the entrance of RataPlan. In Alkmaar you will find the yellow box in the store itself. De Mootjes can be visited seven days a week during the opening hours of RataPlan: Monday to Friday from 09.00 a.m. to 18.00 p.m., Saturday from 10.00 a.m. to 17.00 p.m. and Sunday from 12.00 noon to 17.00 p.m.
The idea of the mini supermarkets is that people who have little to spend can 'shop' from them for free. The Mootjes are not only filled with sanitary towels, but also with long-lasting basic ingredients from the kitchen cupboard, such as pasta, rice and soup.
With the delivery of beautiful second-hand books for the cabinets, Kringloopwinkel makes RataPlan complete the offer. On the one hand, this is to satisfy the 'mental hunger', but also to make shopping at the yellow mini supermarkets more accessible: it is simply easier for people to approach a cupboard with free books than a cupboard with only hygiene products. If you borrow or return a book, you can immediately take a pack of sanitary towels or rice with you. The books that RataPlan supplies for the mini-supermarkets are carefully selected: an accessible mix for both children and adults. After reading, the books may be passed on or put back for the next bookworm.
“You too can do something”
The products for new Mootjes mini-supermarkets are initially supplied by RataPlan and Jumbo Monique. The idea is that, in the long run, local residents will also refill the cupboards. Do you live near RataPlan Hoorn or Alkmaar and do you also want to contribute? This is what is needed:
- brown rice
- whole wheat macaroni
- Can of vegetable soup
- Egg pancake mix
- tampons normal
- Sanitary pads normal
- sanitary towel night
- Books
The Mootjes project is an initiative of supermarket entrepreneur Monique Ravenstijn. She was prompted by news reports about the many girls and young women in the Netherlands who do not have enough money for sanitary towels and tampons.
Foundation RataPlan and Jumbo Monique want to build 25 yellow boxes in North Holland within the foreseeable future. With two 'own' Mootjes mini-supermarkets on the site of the thrift shops in Hoorn and Alkmaar, RataPlan this is a good step, says director Gert-Jan Dekker. He is proud that RataPlan in this way can contribute to the fight against poverty. “RataPlan wants everyone to be able to participate in society. Then you don't want any obstacles to work or go to school. This is a special project that we put our shoulders to the wheel together. You too can do something for someone else. Always!"
looking after each other
The idea that local residents help each other is a reference to the neighborhood of the past. “We can learn to look after each other again,” says Monique. “A lot of people want this, but don't know how. In their experience, for example, transferring money to giro 555 is far from their bed and they have no idea where their donation goes. While you can just donate rice, sanitary towels or soup at the Mootjes. Close by, accessible and visible.”
