A local food bank has reported an estimated 150% increase in the number of people trying to access their services in the last six years.
Loreto House, located on Kenyon Street in Nenagh, provides food parcels to those in North Tipperary who are struggling to make ends meet.
Sandra Farrell, founder of Loreto House, was inspired by a trip to India, where she helped distribute food to those in need, and realised the same issues were right on her doorstep.
Sandra told Tipp Today she anticipates those in need of the food bank will increase in the coming weeks as the cost-of-living crisis rages on.
“We’ve moved from strength to strength, but unfortunately the need has grown here in the town and, actually, in all of North Tipp. This morning, we had people coming from Roscrea, Thurles, and even up close to the Newport border.
“Our peak time is usually the Christmas period. We had 150 food parcels given out over December. January then it kind of peaks out to 100 food parcels – but that will grow again in the next few weeks up to numbers of 150.”
The founder also says the prices of food parcels being distributed have increased due to inflation and says food bags can be valued at upwards of 40 euros now.
She says Mid-West Simon were eager to support the local food bank in its inception, as research showed that support was required in the area as locals were travelling on JJ Kavanagh’s bus service to collect food parcels from Limerick.
Sandra says having the North Tipp base can help provide a welcoming, non-judgmental, family-like environment for locals.
“People come to the door, we know their faces, we have a chat with them, we see how their families are doing, how they’re doing, we might even know that they’re sick. One lady came to the door this morning, she wanted to tell me that a lady who comes here is actually quite ill at the moment. Things like that. It’s like we’ve formed a family in the community, and what I love is that when a new person comes to the door, they get a warm welcoming smile. That’s so important. The biggest thing, I always say, is non-judgement because it takes a lot of courage to come to the door, give your name, and ask for a bag of food.”
