Where we come from
Our history
Small things done with love change the world.
Five bags
We started in August 2008 with five bags of food, filled with donations from our own pockets. Today we hand out 550 to 600 bags a week, still full, thanks to many private donors and organisations such as Schweizer Tafel and Tischlein deck dich.
Bags became more
As the number of bags grew, so did what we offer. People get support in daily life – finding a flat, for instance – and with integration: language courses, someone to come along to the authorities. Out of many conversations grew real bonds and the wish to give much more support, and with it, respect.
The change cannot be stopped
Alongside the weekly distribution, since 2010 we have invited people in need, especially families with children, to a large Christmas celebration. Later came Boutique DaN, a weekly clothing exchange.
Everybody can play
The organisation has grown too. More than 120 volunteers now support the DaN projects, and around 40 of them are in need themselves. We got to know them at the food distribution. People with few social contacts who needed help have become players – helpful, reliable and responsible.
An association
Founding the non-profit, non-denominational association DaN Basel in August 2014 set the course for making a growing organisation professional.
From five bags to 980
Each square is one bag of food handed out in a single week. The five red ones were the beginning, in August 2008.
Your contact
Andreas Schaeppi
President and head of DaN Basel