Volunteers deliver surplus food for those living in poverty
By Mary Dennehy
TWICE a week volunteers deliver surplus food from supermarkets to the Killinarden Community Centre for those in need or living in food poverty within the estate, reports Mary Dennehy.
The community centre has linked in with FoodCloud, a social enterprise that redistributes fresh surplus supermarket food to charities and organisations all over Ireland.
The award-wining Tallaght-based enterprise, which connects businesses that have too much food with charities in their community, redistributes food using a technology platform and three hubs in Tallaght, Galway and Cork.
Before Christmas, the Killinarden Community Centre signed up with FoodCloud, and now gets two deliveries of fresh food per week, with items suitable for children’s lunches and family dinners.
According to community worker Anthony Clinton, who also runs the Killinarden Community Forum Facebook page, deliveries this week included items such as fresh vegetables, bread, rolls, soup and bottles of water.
He said: “The food is collected by volunteers twice a week and brought to use here in the Killinarden Community Centre.
“We started the initiative before Christmas and there are a good few families using it.
“We felt it was important to connect with FoodCloud as there is huge levels of food poverty in the community, and not just here in Tallaght, right across the country.”
He added: “The food we get is suitable for kids’ lunches or can be used for dinner and we would encourage anybody in need to drop into the centre.
“It is a very informal setting and it also gives people who may need support the opportunity to visit the centre.
“We have a lot of services here and if people need additional support, we can put them in touch with services.”
The Killinarden Community Centre is not always aware of when the food will arrive, so Anthony has encouraged people to keep an eye on the Killinarden Community Forum Facebook page, call the centre on 4526617 or drop in and speak with a staff member.
The surplus food delivered is also used by the Killinarden Community Centre Youth Project (KCCYP) for its late night drop-ins for young people.
For more on FoodCloud visit http://food.cloud.
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