At this extremely busy time of year, it’s easy to forget those among us who are a bit less fortunate than ourselves. We forget that not everyone can splash the cash or is running around looking for that last-minute shopping to fill Christmas stockings or get the right trimmings to go with the family turkey.
I was reminded of this the other day whilst chatting with the woman who runs our local food bank. A group of S3 pupils in our local school, Pitlochry High School, had just won the Youth Philanthropy Prize which went to our local foodbank in Pitlochry. The money will be spent on a freezer and a new fridge to enable the foodbank to include fresh food in the parcels they send out. I reported the story for our community radio news and then asked how people could best help the foodbank improve its service to our community.
Helen Kirkwood, the organiser of our foodbank told BylinesScotland,
“The foodbank operates with a small team of volunteers. We’re looking at the moment for more volunteers, particularly to help with transportation of food goods from Perth shops. So if you are one of these people who regularly commutes to Perth in a car and you’ve got room in the back and you could bring back donated food from Perth supermarkets, we could really do with having your contact number. We could put together a pool of people who would be happy to do that as a voluntary thing to support the Foodbank. If you would like to get in touch with us, please do. We are at the Atholl Centre contact number is 01796 473044 or send an email to manager@athollcentre.org.uk. We would be delighted to add you to the team.”
Now, this Christmas Story may have national significance. I am sure there must be many food banks across Scotland that could do with hearing from people who are willing and able to volunteer in this way. If people visited a supermarket on a regular weekly basis, at the end of the working day, to pick up anything they could offer, it would be advantageous to the Foodbank and reduce food waste in our city centre supermarkets.
So, if you are a regular commuter and want a worthwhile New Year’s Resolution, why don’t you find out where your local foodbank is, make contact and see if you could help out once a week in 2023? Wealth is about sharing. Robert Burns knew that and reminds us in poem
“Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.”
Contact your foodbank and ask what you can do for them.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
