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| L-R Lesley Darcy, Assistant Operations Manager. Dawn Stanford, Operations Manager and Marianne MacDonald, Trustee |
I've just spent the last few hours in a Big Yellow Self Storage unit and do you know what? I had the best time, I haven't laughed like I did in ages. This is no average storage unit, let me tell you. This is the home of the Nourish Community Foodbank where I've spent the morning in the company of three super passionate women who are each making a difference in their community.
'Every tin is a hug' is the wisdom imparted in
me today from Marianne MacDonald, Trustee of the Nourish Community Foodbank. She
told me this is how she explains her voluntary work to her daughter and she
went on to say 'Nourish is so much more than just food, it is a helping hand, a
squeeze, a hug and a feeling there are complete strangers who care'. Marianne talked with passion about how making donations to a food bank such as Nourish
is conscious giving, people have made a choice to add extra shopping to their
basket or to open their cupboard and see what they can donate, it is so much
more involved than just putting loose change in a tin.
She is of course right and I see this first-hand
as I also volunteer in my local foodbank in Hastings. Nourish is like no other
food bank I've ever seen though, they operate from the Big Yellow Self Storage building and are gifted a 200 sq ft unit by them and have been for the last few years. Their
team of volunteers meet there each week to weigh, sort and pack the food and the
food parcels are then delivered straight to the door of the person in need,
removing any obstacles such as transport or ill health from stopping them
getting their much needed food, toiletries and personal items.