From January 11 to 15, 11,246.11 kg of donations were received throughout the country, and this week they continued to collect contributions, reported the Ecuadorian Business Committee (CEE), which coordinates the collection and delivery of this aid that comes from the private sector and citizenship through the collection . centers where food and hygiene products are collected for the Armed Forces and the police in the fight against drug crime.

The campaign carried out by the Committee is called “United for Peace and Security”, but some unions and private companies have taken other similar initiatives, such as, for example, the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA) which promotes its “Joining Forces” day, in addition to collecting and donations in coordination with the CEE in charge of logistics.

Burgers, bolón, coffee, energy bars and food in general are donated by companies and entrepreneurs to uniformed police officers who patrol the streets of Ecuador

On Wednesday, January 17, Yahira Piedrahíta, executive director of CNA, said they are organizing the delivery of 2,000 kits containing non-perishable food products and other hygiene and health products for the police and military. This Thursday, January 18, the Chamber confirmed that 2,142 sets were assembled. Piedrahíta indicated that these sets will be delivered starting this week in coordination with the Business Committee and Chambers of Production.

“This is a call to all citizens, not only companies, it is time when efforts must be added so that we can fight crime, normalize the situation and so that we can work and live in peace,” said Piedrahíta.

2142 sets are divided into:

2000 survival kits that have:

100 boxes that randomly carry extra:

42 complete Vitapro donation kits with hygiene items:

Miguel Ángel González, president of the CEE and the Chamber of Commerce of Guayaquil, explained that the idea is to make the donations permanent while the internal conflicts continue and highlighted the good results. “Law enforcement donations have been successful. The manufacturing sector immediately showed and citizens turned to donate in droves, delivering food, supplies and resources to show their support. “They protect us, we take care of them,” is the motto of the campaign,” said González.

He added that the goal of the private sector is to meet the demands of law enforcement agencies. “They gave us a list of demands, and we strive to deliver what they ask of us, as well as the accompanying goods. For now, the request is being fulfilled. We constantly evaluate so that there is no wastage or shortage. We collect information from different collection centers, of which there are many across the country,” explained the spokesperson of the business sector.

Meanwhile, in supermarket chains such as Supermaxi and Megamaxi, from Corporación Favorita, spaces have been created for customers to leave their contributions, alongside ads with QR codes listing the products that can be donated. For example, at Megamaxio in Mall del Norte, in Guayaquil, most of the donations were bottled water and non-perishable products.

Corporación Favorita offers its premises as centers for collecting donations for the police and military, and pledges to double those it receives

This is part of the ‘All together for Ecuador’ campaign, carried out by Corporación Favorita, which has also announced that, through Fundación Favorita, it will double all donations received at its locations throughout the country.

At Megamaxi in Mall del Norte, an area was set aside to collect donations from customers Photo: Peter Tavra Franco

The government provides an official donation collection center

Meanwhile, the Presidency of the Republic published this Thursday the list of collection centers authorized to receive donations for public forces. The list includes points in Cuenca, Gualaceo, Morona Santiago, Machala, Quito, Guayaquil, Loja, Azogues, Zamora Chinchipe, Ibarra, Esmeraldas, Tulcán, Lago Agrio, San Lorenzo, Latacunga, Ambato, Pastaza, Riobamba and Babahoyo.

A list of what you can donate has also been published:

This announcement comes after a document circulated on social media advising uniformed officers conducting street operations and controls not to receive prepared food or drink if possible. And that’s because of indications of an alleged attempt to poison law enforcement officers through donations from citizens.

While appreciating the citizens’ generosity, through a statement carried by X, the Armed Forces claim that all levels of risk that soldiers may face during military operations are being studied.

“We appreciate such a noble gesture due to the high level of generosity of citizens across the country who provide food and drinks for military personnel, which will always be well received, as well as the contribution of private companies, which respect the procedure of submitting these donations to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, to be later distributed by the FF- in. AA,” the press release states.

However, FF. AA. show that “terrorist groups could present themselves as generous people by contaminating food, in order to reduce durability and influence personnel so that they cannot carry out military operations,” according to the institution.

González regretted that there were those poisoning attempts. “I assume that this is the action of the enemy, who even used citizens to deliver food. However, it is important to note that there are many more good citizens in the communities who spontaneously tried to help the law enforcement agencies and show them gratitude and support,” he said.

He explained that from the business side, for security reasons, they propose that donations be given according to those requested by the police, namely: non-perishable food, canned or properly closed and packed, and quilts, lamps, antibacterial gel, masks, among other provisions that you can find on our official channels.

Meanwhile, CNA clarified that the 2,000 survival kits were filled with non-perishable food locked in the factory and products bought from the supermarket chain thanks to the cooperation of the union and its affiliates.