Haverhill Foodbank ‘amazed’ by generosity of shoppers
Haverhill Foodbank collecting foodstuffs donated by the shoppers at Tesco
A whopping 1.8 tonnes of food was donated to Haverhill Foodbank over the course of the weekend by shoppers at the town’s Tesco store.
A total of 1.1 tonnes was presented to foodbank volunteers on Saturday alone, with the remainder following on Sunday.
The total has awed Haverhill Foodbank’s operations manager, Ann Merrigan, who said: “it’s been amazing really, the generosity.
“It’s local people giving to their own community and that’s what’s so appealing to people I believe, the fact that they are helping in their community, and quite often it’s people who are giving that have been helped (by the Foodbank) themselves.”
One man presented the foodbank team with a trolley containing 20 tubs of Quality Street, added Mrs Merrigan, while another man walked up and handed them a £100 cash donation. In all £217 was taken in cash donations.
A collection table was manned at Tesco between 9am and 6pm on Saturday and from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, and Tesco staff, who Mrs Merrigan described as ‘brilliant’ offered their help in a variety of ways.
With previous average daily collections undertaken at Sainsbury’s and Tesco in Haverhill usually yielding between 250 kilos and 300 kilos, the weekend’s return represented a huge hike in the amount of food taken.
All the food donated has been taken to the foodbank’s warehouse in Falconer Road and sorted into different categories according to there expiry date and what type of food it is.
From there it gets packed into boxes ready to go to the clients.
Haverhill Foodbank is also putting together Christmas parcels of food, which include festive treats such as sweets and Christmas puddings.
Claire Bowden, from Tesco, was also quick to praise the generosity of shoppers.
She said: “From Tesco’s point of view it just went fantastically.
“I have to say that our deputy manager said he was really proud to be a part of that experience and that Haverhill people should be more than pleased with themselves.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Haverhill
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North
