A cafe and bakery in North Belfast has launched a donation system after they received a huge response to their new kids' breakfast club.
Use Your Loaf Pound and a Penny Bakery on the Antrim Road started the breakfast club last week, with owner John Kelly saying things have been much busier than they could have expected.
Due to the huge response, and many messages from people asking how they can help out, the team have added an option to their app to allow customers to donate £2 to buy a child breakfast.
Read more: Belfast bakery starts breakfast club to make sure kids don't go hungry
"We did not expect things to be as bad as they are, there are so many people struggling," John told Belfast Live.
"We have now added a buy a breakfast for a child option on our app, as well as a buy a breakfast for a family option as so many people are looking to donate. We have been inundated with people looking for food parcels and really struggling."
The club, which started on Monday, October 31 and will run for the foreseeable future, gives children the option of fruit, juice, cereals, porridge, cereal bars, as well as warm food including toast, to make sure they get a good start to their day before school.
Speaking on the first day of the new initiative, John said he was sickened by the "unreal" price rises and heightened cost of living, and wanted to do all he could to help families who may be struggling.
He said: "People have been coming in and saying about the rising costs of gas and electric, with some saying they're having to choose between heating and eating.
"It's getting into the cold season now. You see some kids coming in and some are ordering something, while others are standing beside them looking away. We don't like to see any kids going without so we always try to do what we can.
"With the rising costs of everything, it's hard for us to even do anything ourselves. I came into business with nothing, and I'll go out with nothing if I have to. But we wouldn't see people struggle or starving, we just have to do what we can to help.
"The thought of people in 2022 being hungry just makes me feel sick to my stomach. We open at 7am and kids start school at 9am, so we run the club between then for kids to get breakfast."
Looking to the future, John and the team at Use Your Loaf are planning to collaborate with local charity The People's Kitchen to help as many people as possible.
John said: "We are going to be linking up with The People's Kitchen to help with food parcels to make sure people don't go without and that no kid or family does without.
"The breakfast club is going really well and we are working hard to make it work. All we can do is our best, hopefully we will try together to help."
READ NEXT:
- NHS staff in Northern Ireland vote to strike
- NI Cost of Living payments to hit bank accounts from today
- NI mum slams failure to deliver £400 energy bill support payment
- Belfast flute band going the extra mile to raise funds for Christmas toy appeal
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
