Financial support for communal food aid activities

Financial support for communal food aid activities was distributed in spring 2026. Support of up to €700 per branch was granted for 2026. Funding decisions have been sent by email to the branches that applied for the financial support.

If any of the granted financial support remains unused, a second call for applications will be organised during autumn 2026.

Reporting of expenses and payment of the financial support

The expenses and the activity must be reported to the headquarters once all costs covered by the granted financial support have been incurred or all planned events have been organised. Reporting is therefore done only once during the year. The report must be submitted no later than 15 December 2026.

The headquarters will pay the financial support to the branches based on the actual expenses incurred after the reporting has been submitted. Financial support is paid to the branches a few times during the year. Receipts are not sent to the headquarters, but they must be kept in the branch’s accounting records.

Form for reporting expenses

Conditions for receiving the financial support

Financial support has been granted to branches under the following conditions:

• You use the financial support for the branch’s regular communal food aid activities. Financial support is not granted for single events. At least three events must be organized per year. The activity cannot consist only of distributing food bags.
• You identify the needs of the area and avoid organising overlapping events. You ensure that the activity is accessible to all those in need.
• In addition to food aid, at least one other activity group in the branch participates in carrying out the activity. If the branch has no other activity groups, the activity can be organised in cooperation with another branch or other partners (e.g. municipality, parish, other organisations).
• You advertise the activity on the website www.ruoka-apu.fi/en/home/.
• You recruit new volunteers for the branch’s activities through the activity.
• You investigate the possibility of continuing the activity as a permanent form of activity.

Eligible expenses include, for example, expenditure incurred for the purchase of food: food to be served or prepared at the event, snack products, and food preparation and hygiene items. The financial support cannot be used to purchase gift cards to be distributed or to distribute the financial support in cash.

More information on branch financial support can be found here.

Any questions can be sent to ruoka-apu@redcross.fi.