Independent food bank Humans MCR today delivered Christmas food and gift packages to more than 1000 people across Greater Manchester.
Volunteers organised almost three tons of fruit and vegetables alongside turkeys, toys and toiletries last weekend in preparation for today’s deliveries.
This marks their fifth annual Nobody Hungry at Christmas campaign which helps people facing food insecurity across the region take part in Christmas traditions.
Founder and CEO Lewey Hellewell said: “Our mission is to help families break cycles of generational food poverty.
“We are working with families, making sure their children are waking up and going to school with a full belly so they can learn at their optimum and hopefully break the cycle that their family might have been in since the end of the Second World War.”
Hellewell said he has seen a clear rise in demand for Humans MCR’s services since the pandemic, with demand doubling in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Founded in 2019, the food bank took off in 2020, providing 100,000 meals in the first lockdown while operating out of Hellewell’s one-bedroom flat.
It now runs from a base in Blackley, north Manchester and delivers tailor-made food packages to homes across Rochdale, Bury, Salford, Manchester, Trafford and Stockport.
It also operates a community grocers service which allows people to buy supermarket food at reduced prices.
Featured image: Humans MCR by Serena Murphy
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