Full-time workers are skipping meals and visiting food banks for help to cope with the rising cost of living crisis, it’s been claimed.
Tracy Griffin and Sue Ralph, who run Ballycullen Food Bank in West Dublin, have said demand has more than doubled in recent weeks.
Sue said it was “eat or heat” for many families as they can not afford to do both and many people in jobs are struggling to make ends meet.
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Speaking to the Irish Mirror, she added: “They would have a budget of €50, but now they’re getting a lot less for their €50 so they’re not eating.
“They’re actually doing without, they’re skipping meals in a day.
“These are actual people that are out earning a living.
“Every time the phone pings, I just think, ‘Please just let it be someone who is offering to donate and not the other way around’, but nine out of 10 times it’s somebody looking for help.
“We shouldn’t be living like this.”
The food bank is located on the grounds of the Delaford football pitches in Knocklyon, near Tallaght, and was originally set up to provide hampers to people at Christmas.
But since Covid-19, the bank has turned into an around-the-calender operation.
Opening hours of the food bank depends on the two women’s schedules as they both work full-time.
Each food parcel contains “all the basics” and toiletries and they have also supplied fruit, vegetable, frozen foods, meat and bread.
Other than food, children’s clothing such as underwear and shoes are also requested on the food bank’s Facebook page.
Larger charities in the area have also reached out for help from Ballycullen Food Bank because there is such a strain on services.
Sue added: “If it was a business, you’d be booming but this is the type of business you’d want to decline as time goes on. Business has just grown exponentially.”
The food bank now provides for about 150 people, including children – up from about 50-60 in quieter times.
The organisers have noticed a “knock-on effect” within families when it comes to those requiring assistance, which they describe as “scary”.
The increased cost of living has also affected the donations collected by Ballycullen Food Bank because people can’t afford to spend money on additional items while doing their own grocery shop.
The organisers are also appealing to supermarkets “to do their part” to reduce food waste by donating to food banks.
Sue added: “We’ve seen with our own eyes where the supermarket is actually physically throwing it out and won’t give it to us. There’s nothing wrong with it – it might have a dent in it, it might have a torn package.
“We’re having terrible trouble and it’s not only our charity.”
“The staff won’t even get it and that’s down to management.”
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