As the summer holidays are in full swing, Tesco Ireland has turned its attention to helping Family Resource Centres (FRCs) to prevent children from going hungry.
FRCs support families with much-needed household essentials, and help feed children during the summer holidays when they are not getting school meals.
Tesco created the Stronger Starts Summer Food Collection with a network of FRCs to offer support to local communities.
The initiative asks customers to purchase one extra non-perishable food item when shopping, if they “have a little spare they can share.”
They can then donate it to the Food Collection trolley at the front of 115 stores nationwide until 8 September.
The Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) index suggests that one-fifth of children in Ireland have gone to bed hungry because of lack of available food.
In a recent survey with a sample of FRCs around the country, 100% of respondents said they see an increase in food support demand in the summer months.
The majority (77%) added that there are children within their communities who do not have access to three meals a day.
‘Create Lasting Social Change’
Commenting on the initiative, FRC National Forum chief executive Fergal Landy said, “Food supports, among our many outreach activities, play a crucial role in addressing food poverty in local communities.
“During the summer months, we see an increased need for food supports across the board, which is why we are delighted that Tesco has launched this initiative.
“We hope that the public will support the Stronger Starts Summer Food Collection by donating a non-perishable food item at the end of their weekly shop.
“The food support element of the FRC is not just about distributing food; it’s about adopting a community development approach to challenging the underlying structures causing poverty and inequality to create lasting social change impacting on the lives of families and communities facing food insecurity.”
Tesco Ireland communications director, Rosemary Garth said, “We are calling on customers to simply pop one additional non-perishable food item into their basket and place it into the dedicated donation trolleys at the front of 115 stores nationwide, each week until 8 September.
“A small gesture like this will go a long way in supporting Family Resource Centres across the country and the fantastic work they do.
“We are extremely proud that our Stronger Starts schools programme has doubled its reach this year and now provides 5,400 children across the country with free, fresh food packs, but we want to go further and ensure that communities are supported through the summer months.”
The Stronger Starts Summer Food Collection programme is now live and running until 8 September.
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