Food bank is ready to donate 5,000th parcel

Food bank is ready to donate 5,000th parcel

15 November 2017

THE Fountain Foodbank in Downpatrick is holding a special event this Friday to mark the distribution of its 5,000th food parcel and to launch an appeal for more support help it meet continued need in the area.

Since its launch in 2015, the foodbank has distributed over 1,600 food parcels and will soon have fed 5,000 people, with the significance of this figure not lost on the volunteers who run the cross-community service.

They have played an important role helping individuals and families in need as part of the drive to help alleviate food poverty in Downpatrick and the surrounding area and want to do more.

While the volunteers say the people helped by the foodbank is not something to celebrate due to the level of local poverty, it is nevertheless a milestone. Those who work with the Christian charity say they have been reminded of Jesus’ miracle of feeding five thousand people that is recorded in the bible.

The foodbank helps those in need, in particular, families struggling to make ends meet, quite often, through no fault of their own. People can be referred to the facility for a variety of reasons, including cuts and delays in benefits, family illness or bereavement, pressure on home budgets and sudden emergencies.  

This Friday afternoon’s event at Downpatrick Presbyterian Church Hall starts at 2pm has been organised to thank local people and organisations that have made it possible to support so many people since the foodbank’s launch.

There will also be an opportunity to find out more about the work of the foodbank and its partner organisations that refer clients to the charity.

Volunteers say they want to ensure the foodbank is able to meet continued need and are running a campaign to turn ‘five tins and two packets’ into 5,000 items of food during November.

Foodbank co-ordinator Shirley Lennon, says the organisation knows the community is very generous and is asking people to buy an extra item of shopping and give it to those who find themselves in difficult circumstances.

Donations can be left at the foodbank, local churches, Milligan’s shop in Ardglass, the SuperValu store at the Ballymote shopping centre or The Hub at Grove shopping centre. 

The foodbank’s contact details are fountainfoodbank@gmail.com or telephone 07444 015883. The foodbank also has its own Facebook page.