FOOD collections organised by members of Wokingham’s Lions Club raised nearly a ton of donations, and a lot of cash in the process.
The collection was held in November outside Waitrose, and follows on from a similar collection held in May outside the Tesco superstore.
Shoppers were asked to donate food which in turn was presented to Wokingham Foodbank. In all, more than 900kg worth of food was handed over, and £650 donated. This will be used to buy extra food and other essentials.
This is on top of a £1,500 donations made by the Lions in October to help the charity meet the increased demand.
A second collection, the Can Can appeal, was held on two weekends last month, first outside Tesco and then Waitrose. Donations raised £800, and enough food to make up 275 parcels for distribution.
These parcels were distributed to the elderly and families in need in Wokingham, in time for Christmas.
The Lions said they were grateful to First Days Children’s Charity, who let the Lions used a room to store and prepare the donations ahead of distribution.
John Cleary, organiser of the Lions Foodbank collections, said: “A special thank you to First Days, Wokingham Foodbank and Share Wokingham, for their drive and enthusiasm getting the project up and running again this Christmas.
“Wokingham Lions Club would also like to thank Waitrose, Tesco and their customers for their continuing support in 2022. More than 800 families were supported in 2021 and this year this figure was surpassed”.
For more details about Wokingham Lions Club, visit: www.wokinghamlions.org.uk, or call: 0345 833 7384.
