Carlow food kitchen will run out of money in the next eight weeks
St Clare's Hospitality Kitchen is facing a funding crisis
“OVERHEADS are bleeding us dry.” So says the operations manager at St Clare’s Hospitality Kitchen in Graiguecullen, which has issued an urgent appeal for donations because it only has enough cash to cover the next eight weeks.
According to Michelle Maddock Conaghan, running costs at the kitchen have increased by 20% in the last couple of years. That, coupled with an increase in the numbers of people availing of this vital service, has led to an urgent situation for the charity, which is fast running out of funds.
The kitchen has been a lifeline for many local families for almost a decade, currently providing anywhere between 100 and 150 hot meals daily. However, despite the generosity of locals, cash reserves are only sufficient to operate for another eight weeks.
PRO Nora Meaney says that the situation is critical and that closure of the service, which provided over 30 thousand meals last year, is unthinkable.
“We can’t let that happen,” she told The Nationalist. “Patrons need us on a daily basis. We have a huge percentage of people who come here who would not get a hot meal otherwise. Children who would have gotten a hot meal in school don’t have access to that during the summer months, so this is a lifeline for food, for nourishment, for welcome.” Located at The Waterfront on Mill Lane, St Clare’s provides hot meals and food parcels free of charge to those in need, relying almost entirely on fundraising and donations. A dedicated team of staff and volunteers serves lunch from 12.30pm to 2.30pm, Monday to Friday, providing help to those who are ‘food poor’ – a term used to refer to people who can pay their rent, mortgage and utility bills but must cut back on food in order to do so.
The number of families needing food has doubled in recent times and Michelle added that it is a “heart-breaking reality” that for many of those who avail of the service, coming in for a meal might be the only human interaction a person has on a given day.
Fr John Dunphy, a director of St Clare’s Hospitality Kitchen, says that they have never reached this dire stage before and that this funding appeal is the most important one in the kitchen’s history.
While issuing the urgent appeal, Fr Dunphy is also keen to thank the local community. “Carlow should be really proud,” he said. “We survived until now on the goodwill and generosity of the public. We are here to assist families going through difficult times and those who might otherwise go to bed hungry or without proper nourishment. We can’t thank the community, local businesses, and schools enough.” If you would like to donate, bank details for St Clare’s Hospitality Food Kitchen Ltd are BIC BOFIIE2D and IBAN IE65 BOFI 9065 3169 3735 69. Donations can also be left at the parish office in Graiguecullen, Carlow.
