Shoppers donate to Foodbank appeal

Photographed at the ASDA store in Antrim were staff members Roisin, Pat, Eunice and Nicholas with Ballymena Food Bank helpers Ricky, Willia, Darren and Trevor where information and a collection was taken on Saturday. INBT 32-905H

Shoppers donated a very generous 548kgs of food to Ballymena Foodbank to help feed local people facing crisis.

Ricky Dixon, Ballymena Foodbank, said: “I was amazed at how generous some people were, we were literally coming out of the supermarket every hour with trolleys full of food from the collection! Being a volunteer for the first time really opened my eyes too. It was lovely to see lots of children getting involved and walking up to us with a big smile on their face and packs of biscuits or sugar in their arms, they were really pleased to be giving, which is very encouraging.”

All the food given out by the foodbank has been donated by the public, which makes collections like Saturday’s so important. The foodbank wouldn’t be able to run without public generosity.

Last month Ballymena Foodbank gave out a staggering 1352.5kgs of food, which fed 152 local men, women and children who would otherwise have had to face going hungry.

Ballymena foodbank manager Willie Elder added: “I would like to say a big thank you to all those who gave food or their time on Saturday. It is hard to describe the difference giving a food box makes to parents whose children would otherwise go to bed hungry, and it is people like you who make this possible.”