Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Noelle’s birthday gift to foodbank
A SCHOOLGIRL has made her ow n specia l cont r ibut ion to the Christmases of families across the city, after she used £94 of her own money to buy items for her local foodbank.
Noelle Allan, who attends St Andrew’s Primary and lives in Charleston, was given the money by friends and family for her fifth birthday last week and decided to use it to help feed those less fortunate than herself.
The packed goods were donated to St Andrew’s Primary as part of their appeal before being handed over to the Dundee foodbank.
Lisa-Marie Allan, Noelle’s mother, said her daughter has always had an interest in donating to the foodbank.
She said: “Every week we go shopping together and get food to donate. She gets really excited about donating to the foodbank.
“She says to me, ‘Mum, you have to get that one, it’s their favourite’ so I obviously have to get it. It’s like a game to her, she really enjoys giving.
“She always gets upset about me having to pay, but I told her that when she’s an adult she can buy the food to donate.
“Her birthday came around and she decided to use all the money she got, more than £90, to buy items for the foodbank.”
The mother and daughter were able to purchase more than 100 items for the foodbank, including soup, pasta, orange juice and biscuits.
Lisa-Marie said: “This whole thing has just made me super-proud.
“To watch her do something like this, I have to admit, I had a little cry.
“She’s done more for people in the city than some politicians. I know she’s going to be something special some day.
“I hope that when she’s my age there aren’t any foodbanks which she has to donate to, but while there are I encourage everyone to get out and donate. Helping others, it’s really not that hard.”
On Saturday, the Tele told the story of Carson Ross, a pupil at Ballumbie Primary School, who wrote a letter to Father Christmas at the North Pole offering his bike to someone less fortunate.
His mother, Chevonne Ross, said she was “extremely proud” after the seven-year-old Whitfield lad explained he wanted to donate his old Star Wars BMX bike to charity.
Although the initial plan was to donate the bike to a homeless shelter, a youngster in Dundee will now be the recipient.
Carson previously donated a games console.