Response to Dublin diocese’s food appeal triples

Dublin Archbishop overwhelmed at generosity

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has thanked parishes for their “remarkable generosity” in tripling their response to the Crosscare annual food collection this year.

While donations of food continue to be collected from churches by Crosscare this week, Archbishop Martin said early indications show that “almost as much food was collected on Sunday last as was collected in the three collections last year”.

In a letter read out at Masses at the weekend, the Archbishop of Dublin thanked those who made food donations at their parish churches, saying it was a “remarkable tribute to the generosity of the Mass-going Catholics” who he said “readily responded with this form of direct care for the less fortunate”.

Crosscare, the social care agency of the archdiocese, opened four new food banks around the city and county this year and had to almost double the amount of food it distributed in 2013.

In 2012, it distributed 500 tonnes of food. This rose to 750 tonnes in 2013 and is expected to reach 1,200 tonnes by the end of this year.

In response to the homelessness crisis, Archbishop Martin has handed over a diocesan building to Crosscare for emergency homeless accommodation in Dublin city centre, which is due to open its doors this week.