Members of Hideout Youth Club with Sue Ralph, Glenda Muphy Smullen, Tracey Griffen and Seán Culligan
Amazing response to sponsor a child campaign for Christmas
The Ballycullen Food Bank have received very good support after the first drop off day for their Sponsor a Child Campaign for Christmas.
The foodbank was established six years ago this August and confidentially supports between 150-200 families suffering from food poverty.
This Christmas is the second year that they have held a gift drive for children of the families they support.
Sue Ralph, one of the organisers of the food bank, said the response for their first Christmas drop off day, which took place on Saturday, October 11, was “amazing”.
“I think we had over 30 people on Saturday arriving with gifts,” she said.
People can ‘sponsor’ a child, and are given basic information, such as age, gender and interests, about a child so they can tailor their gift accordingly.
“We say your budget your way and give them ideas like the usual – pyjamas, fluffy socks, underwear, maybe a small gift,” Sue said.
“It was unbelievable the gratitude last year, we just could not believe how desperate our families are, only when you start giving them that little bit extra at Christmas, you really then see how bad things are.
“We started early with the drop off because we couldn’t believe how quick people were coming back to us and saying ‘I have my gift but I want it out of the house’ because their kids are looking at it,” she added with a laugh.
They’re set to hold at least two more drop off days between now and Christmas.
People dropping gifts on Saturday also dropped off food donations, which Sue says they are in constant need of.
Members of the Hideout Youth Club were on hand at the food bank’s location, which is not shared publicly, to help sort through and coordinate gifts, as was Tallaght Person of the Year 2024, Glenda Murphy Smullen.
Also helping out on the day was local man Seán Culligan, who will run the Dublin City Marathon on October 26 to raise funds for the Ballycullen Food Bank.
His GoFundMe page has already cleared €6,100 in donations.
