Lions Club Christmas Food Appeal in four Tesco stores

Navan Lions Club and Tesco Ireland are asking shoppers to make a big difference to someone’s Christmas by donating a food item during their two-day Christmas Food Appeal, which takes place today and tomorrow in Tesco stores in Ashbourne, Bettystown, Navan and Ratoath.
Over 4,465 meals were donated by Meath shoppers in 2014, and this year the appeal is hoping to build on this success and support as many families as possible by providing hampers of non-perishable food items in the run-up to Christmas.
During the two-day appeal, a 'shopping list’ with suggested non-perishable food items will be available to all customers as they enter their local Tesco store. Top of the list are tea bags, biscuits, breakfast cereals and tinned goods, with shoppers urged to add an item to their shopping basket and pop it in to the Lions Club trolley at the front of the store on their way out.
Lions Food Appeal co-ordinator Joe Smith commented: “The generosity we saw last year was wonderful, especially considering the pressure people are under at this time of year.
“Having seen the difference these food hampers can make to families, we are determined to collect even more this year so that we can reach as many people as possible and give them a little help this Christmas.”
He said every item really does go a long way. Shoppers can donate one or more of the following items in their local Tesco store: tea bags and instant coffee, biscuits, sugar, butter, breakfast cereals, tinned goods (vegetables, fruit, fish, meat), pasta and pasta sauces, rice and rice pudding, jam, soft drinks, sweet treats, selection boxes and Christmas cake.
All food collected during the appeal in Tesco stores will be sorted by Lions Club volunteers and used to create food hampers for people in the local community who are struggling to provide for themselves or their families.
With 115 Lions Clubs spread throughout the country, volunteers from each area will work to see these food parcels distributed to those who need it most in time for Christmas by sharing the donations directly with local families or forwarding the parcels to some of the charitable organisations they support each year, such as the St Vincent de Paul.