Aldi Ireland has donated €1,000 worth of gift vouchers to University College Cork (UCC) Students’ Union food bank in response to its national appeal.
The Students’ Union ran out of supplies just 50 minutes after opening with Students’ Union representatives attributing the high demand to rising rental prices, leaving many students struggling to afford their weekly shop.
Aldi said it is giving shoppers the opportunity to donate towards UCC students struggling to afford food on campus by rolling out new food donation points across its stores in Cork City.
The participating stores include Glanmire, Blackrock, Passage West, Douglas Village, Grange, Ballyphehane, Wilton, Elysian, Mayfield, Blackpool and the two stores in Ballincollig.
Commenting, Colin Breslin, Aldi regional managing director said, “Aldi is deeply involved in the local community here in Cork and so following the national appeal by UCC’s Students’ Union, we are pleased to be able to offer support to students through our donation."
"As well as this, we are encouraging the wider Cork community to come together to assist students facing food insecurity by availing of our new food donation points across Cork stores,” he said.
UCC Students' Union
UCC Students' Union (SU) is the representative body of the over 22,000 students registered in UCC, supporting and representing UCC students both locally and nationally.
The SU launched their food bank back in 2019 however had to close it when the pandemic hit.
Asha Woodhouse, UCC Students’ Union president commented, “Food insecurity is a huge concern for many students on our campus."
"These vouchers will allow us to provide them with essential, non-perishable foods with a longer shelf-life,” she added.
With students returning to campus for the academic year, they saw a rise in the financial hardship students were experiencing coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and felt it necessary to reopen their food bank once again to their students.
2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more retail news click here. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
