Golding homes has revealed it is providing funding to support the FareShare Family Foodbank.
Golding Homes is providing the funding via its Community Chest Fund, with the aim of ensuring the Family Foodbank can continue delivering food parcels to the vulnerable, the elderly, and isolating Kent residents during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.
FareShare is the UK’s longest running food redistribution charity and has been delivering 395 food parcels per week throughout Kent since lockdown began.
The parcels are delivered from the foodbank to anyone vulnerable or without income or not yet in receipt of benefits – including elderly people who are unable to shop and families.
Increased demand
The demand for FareShare food parcels has risen by 400% during the pandemic
Kareen McDonald, business development executive at FareShare, said: “We used most of the funding from Golding Homes to purchase additional food to support the huge increase in requests for food boxes.
“We went from approximately 125 per week before lockdown to 700 at the height of the pandemic.
“Our donations and existing stock could not have coped with this increased demand so this donation was vital to supplement food in short supply.
“We used the remainder of the funding to purchase boxes to safely distribute the food and to adhere to the food standards applied at the time, as well as purchase fuel to make personal one-to-one deliveries for those who were unable to leave home through isolation or disability.”
Sue Chalkley, Interim CEO at Golding Homes, said: “We are pleased to be able to support local community projects which are making a real difference during these challenging times.
“We are delighted to support FareShare with this Community Chest Fund to enable them to continue providing food parcels to those in need.”
FareShare is currently looking for volunteers in the Kent area to assist them in distributing food parcels from its foodbank.
Golding Homes is housing association that owns and manages around 8,000 homes in Kent.
Read next: Golding Homes’ Community Chest Fund helps Maidstone’s Phoenix Club soar