Parents must look to charity to feed their hungry kids
Bro Kevin Crowley MORE parents are turning up at the Capuchin Day Care Centre looking for free supplies to feed their kids, campaigners said yesterday.
Food bank operators revealed their concern that more families, including many with small babies, need their help over Christmas.
Volunteers at the Dublin centre said demand for help has grown over the past year.
Brother Kevin Crowley, who will oversee the distribution of up to 3,500 Christmas hampers tomorrow, said: “The increase in child poverty has been very evident with more parents requiring help.
CRAMPED
“We’ve seen more and more families coming in to us who are living in cramped hotel rooms because there is no social housing available.
“There is a housing crisis, and every day I see first-hand the devastation it’s causing.
“Things are really severe – one morning earlier this week we handed out supplies, like baby food and nappies, for about 300 babies.”
Meanwhile, organisers of the Knights of St Columbanus Christmas Day dinner for the poor and homeless in Dublin’s RDS said the numbers of families with small children turning to them have risen sharply year on year.
An estimated 3,500 meals will be provided on December 25 – a sharp rise since 2012 when just 1,300 were served.
Spokesman Adrian King said: “There are a lot more families, who come out to us on Christmas Day, and that means we’ve been seeing a lot more children.
According to Focus Ireland, an estimated 10,000 people in Ireland are homeless – with 3,700 of those children.
Most of those are in emergency accomodation but several hundred sleep rough.
Social Justice Ireland has told of its concern that of the 760,000 people in poverty, 230,000 are children.