Family of a woman with a ‘huge heart’ donate to foodbank in her memory

The family of Aurelia Kelly collected for Ballymena Foodbank to help those in need at Christmas.

Mrs Kelly, 54, died in a road traffic collision in Co Antrim on November 4. She was the wife of Church of Ireland minister Revd Trevor Kelly, curate of Drummaul, Duneane and Ballyscullion and supported a number of local charities, with the food bank being particularly close to her heart.

Last year, Mrs Kelly arranged a ‘Doorstep Drop Donation Appeal’, for people to leave donations for the foodbank in her garden. Last December, it became a Christmas Doorstep Appeal, with her garden transformed into a “vintage Christmas at home” with decorations.

To ensure her legacy lives on, Mrs Kelly’s family, husband Trevor, son Andrew and daughter-in-law Laura, and daughter Rebecca, continued to collect for the food bank and handed over their donation this week.

They again collected food at the family home in Ballymena and were also supported by bus manufacturer Wrightbus, where Andrew works in the accounts department.

Andrew said: “We wanted to ensure that mum’s work continued and we have been overwhelmed not only by the donations people have made, but also by so many kind words that people have said about mum.

“We’re grateful to everybody who has donated and I would also like to thank my colleagues at Wrightbus for their generous contributions.“Christmas without mum was not the same, but by continuing with the collection for the foodbank we made sure we are still helping the people that she dedicated so much time to helping.”