Food bank to open in Nenagh
A food bank is to be opened in Nenagh next week in a new local effort to support people who are vulnerable in our community.
The 'Nenagh Community Food Bank' is to open at Loreto House on Kenyon St next Wednesday, August 29th. A new voluntary initiative from local woman Sandra Farrell, the project will run every Wednesday and Thursday morning until the level of need for the service in the community is assessed.
The need for a food bank in Nenagh might not sit well with the narrative that our national economy is booming again. Ireland's economy is expected to record the highest growth in the EU this year with both employment and consumer spending far surpassing their pre-crisis peaks.
But the Society of St Vincent de Paul – which this week launched a recruitment drive for new volunteers in Tipperary – says this story is “very foreign to the poverty, exclusion and marginalisation” that its members encounter on a daily basis.
Ms Farrell's Nenagh initiative reinforces this view. “More than 600,000 people in Ireland live in food poverty,” she pointed out.
“People associate food banks with extreme poverty, but actually the people coming to food banks, they come from all walks of life. The recovery hasn’t reached everyone.
“Lots of people are cash-poor as they struggle to pay for rising household bills and mortgages on homes that are still in negative equity. Others have lost their jobs or are struggling to keep up with rising rents.”
A former town councillor, Ms Farrell is well-known for her volunteer work with early school leavers, the socially disadvantaged and the elderly, for whom she organised a Christmas Day dinner service in the last two years. She made the point that people in need in Nenagh do not necessarily fit the “workshop image of poverty” and said the food bank could help families under pressure to save money that can then be used to pay rent and bills instead, thereby reducing the risk of homelessness.
“We know from our research that men and women from all backgrounds need our help in Nenagh,” Ms Farrell said. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of and it’s something the local community can be proud of. We look after our own in north Tipperary. We still have community values, no matter what.”
The Nenagh Community Food Bank will be supported by the Mid West Simon Community. Ms Farrell said additional volunteers are being sought to support the project. She added that it is hoped to eventually extend the project with a “home delivery” service for people who cannot come to Loreto House.