Tesco helps to fight school holiday hunger in Mayo

With school holidays in full swing, and school holiday hunger a worrying factor for many Irish families, Tesco Ireland is turning its attention to helping Family Resource Centres, which support families with much-needed household essentials and prevent children from going hungry.

To give a helping hand to children and families outside of the school term, Tesco has created the Stronger Starts Summer Food Collection in partnership with a network of Family Resource Centres to ensure local communities are supported.

The groups participating in Mayo are Ballina SVP; Tacu Family Resource Centre, Ballinrobe; Castlebar Le Cheile FRC; Claremorris Family Resource Centre, Cairdeas Family Resource Centre, Kilmovee; and Westport Family Resource Centre.

If they 'have a little spare they can share', customers are kindly asked to purchase one extra non-perishable food item and donate it to the Food Collection trolley in 115 stores nationwide until September 8 to support families and neighbours in their local community.

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 a lack of available food. In a recent survey with a sample of Family Resource Centres around the country, all (100%) respondents said they see an increased need for food supports during the summer months and the majority (77%) said there are children within their communities who do not have access to three meals a day.

Fergal Landy, Family Resource Centre National Forum CEO, 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.”

Rosemary Garth, communications director with Tesco Ireland, added: “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 September 8. 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 throughout the summer months.”

For more information on the Tesco Ireland Stronger Starts Summer Food Collection, log on to TescoIreland.ie.