Food Bank response to Coronavirus crisis
A local school is to the fore in pushing a countywide initiative to establish foodbanks to ensure that hard-pressed local families continue to have access to food essentials as uncertainty around the novel coronavirus continues to take grip.
Belturbet's St Bricin's College and school Principal Mary Sheridan are the driving force behind the push to provide hampers to the most needy.
The secondary school had been operating a food response to disadvantaged families in the community, but with the onset of restrictions around stemming the spread of the Covid-19 virus, realised an opportunity to extend their action to other towns in the county.
It started with St Bricins signing up to the Food Cloud, something Ms Sheridan has been working on for a number of years, which then took off following an agreement with management at the Tesco store in Cavan Town and the grocery giant at national level.
“The agreement was they would provide us with a consignment of foods. The first evening of it was St Patrick's night (March 17), and there was seven full trolleys of foods available to us. Its foods that was obviously going to be disposed off, but which we knew we could put to good use because we know there are disadvantaged families living in our area.”
Such is the dire situation facing some families at present, with one or both parents have lost their jobs amid the current Covid-19 crisis, that all of the food was gone within an hour. In total, 18 hampers of food went out that night.
“Genuinely these were families with nothing. In a lot of cases these are ordinary working people who because of all that's happening have fallen on hard times. Its very difficult.”
But realising the growing situation, and one that is being replicated elsewhere also, Ms Sheridan reached out to Cavan Civil Defence, who then approached An Garda Siochana.
They also approached Cavan County Local Development, formerly Breffni Integrated, with a view to taking advantage of the local organisations unique network of community operatives across the county.