The organization "The Samaritans" is an not-for-profit organization under Belgian law. "The Samaritans" asbl was created in 1994 by Mr. Claude Vander Elst. The main purpose of the organization is to provide assistance to the homeless and other needy people in Brussels through a weekly distribution of soup and sandwiches in the corridor of Central Station.
At the same time, we try to provide blankets, and sleeping bags, especially to those sleeping in the street. All of this is dependent on the donations that we receive.
The distribution takes places weekly on Tuesday evening at 19:30 in the corridor that connects Central Station with the Brussels metro.
A restaurant provides us the whole year long with soup, our volunteers take care of the sandwiches, and several bakeries provide bread and pastries.
Apart from this main activity, we organize every year, on the evening of December 31, a festive New Year's Eve dinner, including a starter, a main dish, and a dessert. The whole meal is accompanied by soft drinks. Finally, the event is concluded with a present for every participant. Every year, more than 350 people take part in this event, including many children.
We find it important to mention that our organization definitely does not want to judge anybody, whether talking about a person's past, present, or future. Our organization does not spread any political nor religious ideology. Our only goal is to help people in need, whoever they are and wherever they come from.