Urgent State support is being requested to prevent the closure of a local food bank.
Midwest Simon Community which covers north Tipperary, Limerick and Clare say this service may have to end at the end of this month as donations have dried up in the midst of the pandemic.
Almost 900 people in north Tipperary availed of the service last year, and it’s estimated that it costs €13,000 a month to run the food bank for the region.
The CEO of Midwest Simon Jackie Bonfield says “when we did contact the department they said maybe we use volunteers – now we already use volunteers.”
“Obviously when you’re providing food to 7,000 people and we only have 1½ staff paid in the food bank – so it was obviously done with a huge portion of volunteerism.”
“But what we do have is 3 vehicles on the road, we have a warehouse, we have packaging, we have logistics, we have health and safety, we have insurance and we have tax – so it’s not just as simple as saying the volunteers can arrive and it’s not going to have a cost implication.”
