Biggest demand on Letterkenny food bank in seven years

Those at the We Care Food Bank in Letterkenny experienced the busiest Christmas and New Year in 7 years. The Letterkenny Food Bank is a community-based voluntary organisation which was established in August 2014 to meet the emerging social needs of families and individuals in the area at that time. The first parcels of food were distributed later that year in December, 2014.

The food bank is an intervention service to help families and individuals in times of crisis.

A spokesperson for the organisation, Fintan McGrath, said the organisation experienced the highest demand over Christmas and New Year since 2016 - the year they first opened their Facebook account.

He said the food bank was kept busy with clients but they managed due to the generosity of donations from individuals, organisations and businesses across the community.

“As the saying goes, there’s plenty of food in the world, we just need to collect and organise distribution to those families in need,” he said.

Food Appeal covers the following essential and basic items, coffee, tea, sugar, cereal, Corn Flakes, Weetabix, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, beans, peas, tinned vegetables, soup, tuna, creamed rice, tinned fruit and biscuits.

The organisation needs a van in order to be able to sustain their food collection and distribution efforts and would greatly appreciate any sponsorship or the donation of a second hand van from local business, company or individual.