Food Bank second hand clothes sales
THE Ballycullen Food Bank held the first of its second-hand clothes sales in Brookfield on Tuesday morning – and will be holding a second sale this Saturday from 11.30am to 1.30pm.
Held in the Brookfield Community Centre, the first instalment of the second-hand clothes sale was a roaring success that the food bank volunteers are hoping to build on this weekend.
The sale is composed of women, men and children’s clothing and accessories, such as footwear and bags, some of which still have their labels attached and are from designer brands.
The items were donated by members of the community to support the food bank’s fundraiser, as they continue to support people in the area who are experiencing food poverty.
Commenting on the success of the first sale, Sue Ralph from the Ballycullen Food Bank told The Echo on Tuesday evening: “It was a great success.
“At first, the donations of clothes were a bit slow but just before the sale on Tuesday there was a major influx of clothes being dropped off for us.
“We got some really good quality stuff, and a lot of new stuff that still had tags, which was great.
“The amount of people that came in today and came from outside the area, because they love second-hand clothes and found that second-hand clothes shops and charity shops were gone too expensive.
“But they were able to get good quality stuff here, at knockdown prices.”
The aim of the two second-hand clothes sales is to raise funds for the food bank to be able to move the electrical points from one of their storage containers to a second one nearby.
This is because the container that currently has electricity is in the glare of the sun and is frequently hot, so the fridges inside cannot be left on because of a fire risk – but it means food could perish.
The volunteers are hoping to get a second container, which is in the shade, kitted out with electricity so they can continue to store food items in their fridges out of the heat before summer comes.
“We have work to be done on one of our containers, and we need an electrician to do it and that’s why we’re raising money,” explained Sue.
“At the moment we have a container, but where it’s positioned is in the sun, and when the sun does come out it heats up the container and it’s too dangerous for us to leave the fridge on.
“We have another container that’s in the shade that would work, but we need to move the electrical points to it.
“At the moment, it’s either that, or we’ll have to insulate it from the heat, but the insulation would probably cost more than getting an electrician.”
The volunteers are hoping that sales at the next second-hand sale in the Brookfield Community Centre this Saturday, April 20, from 11.30am to 1.30pm, which will also include a raffle, will bring them closer to funding the electrical works.
