Mid-West Simon is another local charity which has been hit heavily by a loss of funds during this pandemic.
They’ve just launched a video campaign called “A Foot in the Door” to help raise money.
They say the economic impact of the lockdown has also led to a spike in demand for their services in North Tipperary.
Speaking to Tipp FM, board member, Liam Toland says the work they do accrues a lot of costs:
“The European Food Programme delivers to us 18 pallets of various types of food once a month. That food comes in through Europe but the actual management of the food requires well over €100,000 a year to support and distribute, etc.
“That then puts the food at risk, just doing simple maths. Normally there’s around 7,500 touchpoint people requiring food parcels. That’s gone to 8,500 since the Covid arrived.”
Mr Toland also says thankfully none of the homes they help have been hit by an outbreak of the virus. He says it’s also a very wide spectrum of people that avail of their services:
“There’s a cohort as well who are even more vulnerable – the over-70s and those with underlying illnesses who are cocooning. This cohort find themselves under the umbrella of Mid-West Simon as well. There’s six women and eight men who are being supported through the Mid-West during this cocooning process.
“So, you can just imagine there’s an array of reasons why someone might need support.”
