Main Street Foodbank is an initiative started by a group of people from a local Christian church called ‘The Church on Main Street’. We are motivated by Jesus teaching on poverty and injustice. We operate according to Christian principles of compassion, honesty, integrity, openness, kindness and care of all people, regardless of backgrounds or beliefs. We believe in turning faith into practical action, living out the love of God for the poor.

The foodbank began in December 2012 as a pilot project, where initial response was very positive. Since September 2013, with fantastic support from the local community, our drop-in centre has been operating every week, where currently (April 2015) an average of 50 individuals and families access the service for help.

What is Food Poverty?

In Ireland, food poverty has emerged as an increasingly important issue; recent findings by the Department of Social Protection disclosed 10 percent of the population in Ireland are living in food poverty.

Facts about food poverty in Ireland:

1 in 4 of the population live in deprivation
1 in 7 of those at risk of poverty have a job
750,000 people live very close to the breadline

Today people across Ireland struggle to feed themselves and their families. Redundancy, illness, benefit delay, domestic violence, debt, family breakdown and paying for the additional household costs are just some of the reasons why people go hungry.

References:
Food Poverty in Ireland
Recent Findings
Department of Social Protection