3,926 adults and 1,693 children are known to be homeless in Gothenburg, Sweden (Sweden’s second largest city, also known as Göteborg) .

Café Trappaner (Café Downstairs) is an initiative of a Baptist Church in the city center. This honorable initiative was started in 2001 to try and alleviate some of the needs of the homeless community. On certain evenings they open up for these people and serve food and provide other needs.

The Baptist Church runs a Cafe for homeless people to have access to food and other necessities

It is estimated that about 40% of people who use the services are female, and as is the tragic case in many places around the world, a great deal of them are homeless due to no fault of their own. They sleep where they can, and when winter draws in the extreme Swedish cold can sometimes be devastating for them. February is Sweden’s coldest month when it can go as low as -22 degrees. Now that is enough to really draw out compassion.

There is support for the Cafe Trappaner from sponsors in the local area, especially restaurants that have left over food. Credit and gratefulness is due to these companies on an ongoing basis.

The event was held in downtown Gothenburg Hot burgers were on the menu

On Friday night, November 11th, 2016, RRT Sweden held an event for people experiencing homelessness of Gothenburg at this venue. RRT offered to grill burgers for the evening. It was a clear winter night and about -3 degrees.

200 meals were cooked and served in 3 hours!

A grill was set up right outside the venue inside a box van. Burgers were grilled and assembled with cheese, salad, tomatoes and dressing. They were then placed in boxes and taken inside and served to all attendees. There was a great deal of appreciation for this and everything was very well received. Cakes and RRT water bottles was also served.

A warm meal was much appreciated in the sub zero temperatures

The event ran from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and the team of 8 served over 200 burgers in total. RRT intend to run this again due to the obvious appreciation and need that there is in Gothenburg. RRT in turn appreciated the help of the volunteers at the venue, indeed the support was essential! There was a great spirit and some excellent humor to warm up the whole event. Following the event, the RRT team cleared up, gave them all the left overs and moved on its way – it will return again for sure.

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Community | Compassion | Support

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