CONTEXT & OBJECTIVE
In Aleppo, where over 90% of the population lives below the poverty line, food is not just about survival: it is the first act of dignity that can be restored to a person. We keep a soup kitchen, a bakery, and a care network for the elderly open - three concrete responses in a city that has never stopped resisting.
Five Loaves and Two Fishes
The "Five Loaves and Two Fishes" social kitchen is one of the most critical outposts we manage in Aleppo. In 2025, it distributed over 280,000 hot meals, reaching isolated elderly people, families with no income, people with disabilities, and facilities such as hospitals, orphanages, and nursing homes every day.
In February, a new assessment system based on home visits and economic, health, and social criteria was introduced. This resulted in more precise targeting: we suspended support for about 20% of beneficiaries whose conditions had improved, while adding new families in more critical situations, keeping the total number of beneficiaries around 1,700 people.
The kitchen employs 33 staff members, many of whom have fragile incomes and find a source of dignified livelihood through this work.
Priority beneficiaries include: isolated elderly individuals, female-headed households, large families with no income, and people with chronic illnesses or disabilities. It is more than just meals: it is a system of care that recognizes the person before the need.
St. Anthony's Bakery
n Syria, bread is a staple, daily, and indispensable food. However, the removal of government subsidies has caused prices to skyrocket: the cost per kilogram jumped from 200 to about 4,000 Syrian pounds, putting even this essential item out of reach for the poorest families. St. Anthony's Bakery responds to this silent crisis with concrete figures: about 16 tons of bread produced each month, totaling over 190,000 kilograms distributed in 2025.
Distribution does not happen directly to individuals but through an institutional network: the charity kitchen, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, and the Pro Terra Sancta community centers in East Aleppo. This ensures the bread reaches those most in need in an orderly, verifiable manner without waste. The bakery employs 11 staff members, mostly university students who find the income necessary to continue their studies through this work.
The price of bread has increased twentyfold in just a few years. For many families in Aleppo, the bread from St. Anthony's Bakery is the only bread they can manage to get. Producing and distributing it every day is an ordinary act with an extraordinary impact.
Care for the Elderly
In Aleppo, many elderly people live alone, without nearby family, with no income, often facing health issues and lacking the strength to manage their homes. In 2025, our accompaniment program reached more than 50 elderly people from various Christian denominations through extensive and continuous work supported by 26 student volunteers.
Activities included regular home visits, celebrations such as Mother's Day, personal care services ahead of the Easter holidays, and a large communal recreational day featuring lunch, transportation, and healthcare assistance. We also launched a home - cleaning service for elderly individuals who are no longer independent - a concrete response to an often invisible need.
During the summer and holiday periods, we multiplied our activities to counteract isolation.
Every visit, every shared meal, and every moment of companionship builds something that goes beyond material assistance: it reconstructs a sense of belonging and worth for people who risk feeling forgotten every single day.
