Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Church ‘swamped’ with demand – but also with volunteers
T HOUSA N DS of fo o d parcels have been handed out to families during lockdown by a Dundee church.
Rev Kerry Dixon, minister at St Luke’s in Downfield, said the church has been “swamped” with demand for food during the crisis.
Since lockdown was enforced, the team at St Luke’s has been running a foodbank from the church hall.
Mr Dixon said: “The demand for food has gone through the roof – in April we delivered 2,500 meals across Dundee, and it will be similar again this month.
“There are a whole range of people we help – people who are self-isolating because they are not well or have underlying health conditions, people in the shielding group, people who have lost their jobs, and people who struggle at the best of times, these circumstances are even harder for them.”
The crisis is not impacting on everyone equally, he warned, with those who have no financial reserves most affected.
“We normally have food stocked here at the church to give away to people who need it and we run a drop-in cafe during the week,.
“But obviously that is not running at the moment and we know there are people who come to the cafe to get a free meal, and we wanted to make sure we continued to provide food for them.”
Mr Dixon praised the local community for its help, saying the response had been amazing.
“There is one large family in the St Mary’s area who decided they would not have Easter eggs and instead the whole family put money in and bought food to give to the foodbank,” he said.
“One guy at the church has been in and out of jail all his life, but has now turned his life around and he is putting a quarter of his benefits to the foodbank.
“One guy runs one of the school hubs but at the end of the day, instead of going home, he comes here to do the food deliveries.
“People are turning up and asking what they can do to help.
He continued: “There are some amazing people doing some amazing things.
“This really is a team effort from the church and the community working together.
“People have been so generous – every time it looks like we are going to run out, something happens and more food comes in.”