Prison inmates show the festive spirit by donating to food bank
By Mary Dennehy
THE inmates at Cloverhill Prison showed how they too can give back to society at Christmas, when they handed over a bumper donation of food items to a Tallaght-based food bank.
For the past four years, inmates in the Clondalkin-based remand prison have organised a food drive for charity Crosscare, which, set-up to tackle food poverty, has a base in Jobstown.
Demand for the foodbank is on the increase, with the Jobstown base handing out more than 100 festive food hampers in the first two weeks of December to Tallaght families alone.
Last Friday, the Jobstown Crosscare team visited Cloverhill to collect a generous donation of food items, such as biscuits, rice, pasta, teabags and sugar, which inmates have been buying from the prison’s tuck shop for the past three weeks and donating to the food drive appeal.
A spokeswoman for Cloverhill told The Echo: “The inmates do all of the advertising for the collection.
“They produce posters and leaflets which they drop into every cell. The leaflet gives a bit of information about Crosscare and a list of items that can be donated, where they can donate and when it will be collected . . . they encourage those around them to donate.”
She added: “The food drive shows that inmates can give back to society at Christmas.
“It creates a feel good factor of helping others . . . and also means a lot to many of the inmates who have been homeless or come from families that are struggling.”
More than 300 inmates contributed to the drive, with staff also bringing in items and the Governor Ronan Maher presenting Crosscare with a cash donation.
Liam Byrne, of Crosscare in Jobstown, told The Echo: “We can’t thank the inmates and staff enough.
“Demand for our services are on the increase all the time and all of the items donated will go into making festive food parcels for needy families, making a big impact on their Christmas.
“We’d also like to thank all of the local people who donated at our food drive outside Tallaght churches recently, like the lads in the prison, people were so generous.”
Liam encourages anybody who is struggling or in need this Christmas to drop a letter into the parish office in Jobstown or to call the Crosscare head office on 8360011.
