Thirty-four years after their launch, the Restos du coeur are still there. And continue to feed, among others, many people in difficulty. The launch of this unprecedented operation was improvised by the committed comedian, one day in September 1985 on Europe 1. While he presents his live daily show "Y'en have for everyone", Coluche launches, without know it at the time, in a very large-scale adventure.
"We will try one day to make a big canteen, maybe this winter, gratos"
"If, sometimes, there are brands that hear me, if there are people who are interested in sponsoring a free canteen that we could start doing in Paris and then spread out in the big ones cities of France, we are ready to help a company like that, which would make a restaurant that would initially ambition to do 2,000 or 3,000 meals a day for free, "he improvises on the air.
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"We are ready to receive donations from all over France, when there are surpluses of food and they are destroyed to keep the prices on the market, we could perhaps recover them. a big canteen, maybe this winter, gratos.I throw the idea like that.If there are some who listen to us and it interests us they write us, "continues Coluche on the antenna of Europe 1.
Goldman writes the cult song in express
The call is immediately heard. In December 1985, TF1 broadcast live a special program bringing together artists, politicians and sportsmen: the first Restos du Cœur were born. From the first campaign of the association, which ends in the spring of 1986, 5,000 volunteers distribute no less than 8.5 million meals. At the request of Coluche, Jean-Jacques Goldman expressly wrote the Chanson des Restos, originally performed by Yves Montand, Michel Drucker or Nathalie Baye, then taken over by dozens of artists over the years.
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Coluche, "a man of incredible charity and stubbornness"
At the microphone of Christophe Hondelatte, Philippe Gildas, historical leader of Europe 1 and great friend of Coluche had remembered the creation of the Restos, by paying a vibrant tribute to the comedian.
Coluche did not leave with the exact idea of the Eating, it must do justice to those who had it, but that we do not know: it is the people, the listeners of Europe 1 of the time, who kept saying something had to be done, "remembered the former station manager." At the same time, there was a huge campaign for Ethiopia. We had calls all the time, including Europe 1, to say that there were food problems also in France ".
"In this case, Coluche turned out to be a great person, of great generosity and incredible charity, which made him not even listen to the critics anyway. what he got personally from Europe, in Brussels ", explained the journalist. "His strength is that he was incredibly stubborn," he summed up.