How a Food Share grew out of a restaurant owner's kindness
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It all began during the Pandemic when we teamed up with ‘Franco’s Friday’. Ben Franco, local restaurateur, of The Barn in Almondbury, cooked 100 meals each day for children during half term week in October 2020 and we distributed them from St Michael & St Helen’s Church.
There was a wonderful response to the appeal for donations to make this happen and, as a sizeable pot of money remained at the end of that week, Ben decided to carry on cooking! By the end of March, a staggering 2,682 meals including 225 Christmas dinners had been provided in just over five months. All this was made possible by the tremendous amount of time and hard work that Ben had put in and the incredible generosity of donations from many businesses, organisations, the local community and our three church families. We all know the saying that ‘all good things come to an end’. Having learnt a lot over this relatively short period, ending our support wasn’t an option. Times were still very hard and there were many families and individuals who continued to need our support. Following a grant from Locala, a residue from ‘Franco’s Friday and many very generous donations, we were able to launch SMASH FOOD SHARE on Friday, April 9, 2021. As a church, our doors are open to all and we operate a non-referral policy. We feel truly blessed that twelve months down the line our prayers have been, and continue to be, answered. On average 120 families and individuals are ‘Giving what they can and Taking what they need every Friday’. We are extremely grateful for the donations, help and support from our Parish, Almondbury Methodist Church, local schools, Ben Franco, Morrisons Waterloo Community Champion Debbie Creaser, Almondbury Ward Councillors, the CoOp, Post Office and One Stop who have collection baskets and the community who fill them each week. HOW TO CONTACT US |
SMASH FOOD SHARE
WHERE & WHEN St Michael & St Helen's Church Fleminghouse Lane Almondbury Huddersfield HD5 8UD OPEN: Fridays 9.30am - noon |
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