Over 100 turn out to make Dignity Packs
900 DIGNITY PACKS TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO THE HOMELESS ALL OVER IRELAND
AN INNOVATIVE idea to help homeless people was mass produced on Sunday as 104 volunteers turned out to fill Dignity Packs.
Dignity Packs Ireland was started in 2016 by Loreto Bray student Molly Comish, who wanted to do something to help people who were experiencing homelessness.
The idea first came to Molly, who hails from Church Terrace in Bray, on Christmas Eve 2015 when she was in Dublin and saw how many homeless people there were and felt that it just wasn’t right that the following day she’d be at home, surrounded by all her family and getting presents whilst the people she was seeing wouldn’t get to do that.
It was only in March 2016, when she started her first part time job the Martello in Bray that she had the means to put her plan into action. She thought about what dignity meant to her and how important it is to everyone and she came up with her Dignity Packs idea.
Molly started saving her tip money up from her part time job so she could start to set her idea in motion.
Her idea was to create 30 Dignity Packs and distribute them to homeless people the week of Christmas. However, in October 2016, she became the Bray Lions Club Youth Ambassador and things just snowballed from there as the idea got national attention.
Molly said that last Sunday’s production line had been a major success with 900 Dignity Packs being packed by an army of 104 volunteers.
‘ This was the first time we organised a production line and it went really well. We spent €3,000 getting products and we also got some donated. We will be distributing the Dignity Packs nationwide and hope to team up with homeless charities around the country to help with the distribution.’
Molly said the Martello had also been very generous and provided refreshments and sandwiches to all the volunteers.
‘I was amazed to see so many people volunteering on the day’, said Molly. ‘ There was a great mix of people, family, friends and people I didn’t even know but who had heard about what we were doing and wanted to help. It was amazing.’
Molly, who sat her Leaving Cert in June, is currently anxiously awaiting her results with a view to studying sociology or community and youth development.
She said she hopes to organise another production line once the 900 packs have been distributed.
The Dignity Packs contains: toothbrush, toothpaste, sponge, face cloth, soap, deodorant, wet wipes, tissues, hat, socks, gloves, plasters, cotton buds, nail files, brush or comb, toilet roll, water, sweet treat, cereal bar, lip balm, hand cream, travel shampoo/conditioner/shower gel, sanitary towels/tampons.