More than 680 food hampers going to families in need

OVER 680 hampers of food will be going to families in need in Tallaght as a result of donations made at a ‘bus collection’ in The Square Shopping Centre in recent weeks.

The donation drive was organised by a Killinarden-based group called A Helping Hand, who provide food hampers and vouchers to people in need all year-round.

The group had a double-decker bus parked in The Square over the last two Saturdays and encouraged the community to fill the bus with donations of food and toys to be put into hampers.

Founder of A Helping Hand and local Sinn Féin councillor Dermot Richardson spoke to The Echo on Wednesday morning, when he and a team of volunteers were putting the hampers together.

When asked about how he felt about the donations A Helping Hand received through the bus collection, Cllr Richardson said: “It blows me away.

“A Helping Hand goes on all year round, not just at Christmas, but Christmas is always a big one for us.

“We’ve been inundated with people calling us looking for stuff.”

The bus collection complements a donation drive that the group held in SuperValu in Balally, and a fundraising concert in St Anne’s GAA Club earlier this month that raised €1,800 for the group.

A Helping Hand are still accepting donations of food, meat vouchers, supermarket vouchers, new toys, toiletries, hats, scarves, gloves and sleeping bags.

If you would like to donate, or to request assistance from A Helping Hand, contact Katrina O’Hara on 087 433 5504, or Cllr Dermot Richardson on 087 203 6468.

“The need for A Helping Hand is there,” added Cllr Richardson, “and as long as the need is there, we’ll continue to do it.”