Ellon Foodbank welcomes Ythan Valley Rotary's donation
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After hearing of the difference that Ellon Foodbank makes to people in their community, members of Ythan Valley Rotary were inspired to give something back.
The club were delighted to be able to fund and provide a freezer to Ellon Foodbank to assist with its ongoing valuable work in the community.
Earlier this year Ellon Foodbank manager Karen Butchart gave a talk to the Ythan Valley Rotary members where she spoke about the history and the work of the organisation as well as the specific challenges and restrictions which she was having to manage due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
At the end of the talk one of the questions was 'what would make things just a little bit easier?', and at the time she suggested a freezer.
Ythan Valley Rotarians decided to investigate funding with the assistance of the Rotary International Foundation, and this week a freezer was delivered to the Station Road premises of the Foodbank.
Continuing, Karen said “Due to the onset of Covid-19 and the huge increase of people enduring food poverty, Ellon Foodbank saw a 540 percent increase of people needing a food parcel in the first 10 weeks of the pandemic.
“As our need has increased, the help from local community businesses has been substantial although we have had to refuse offers of fresh and frozen produce as we had no storage facilities.
"The offer of a freezer from Ythan Valley Rotary is gratefully received and it will be invaluable to us in helping our local community.”
Ythan Valley Rotary and the Ellon Foodbank have an established working relationship as the Foodbank is a collection point and referrer for Rotary’s clothing bank.
Ythan Valley Rotary’s president Eleanor Macalister said “Ythan Valley is delighted to have been able to help the Foodbank and we look forward to a continuation of our working together for the benefit of the local communities."
Ellon Foodbank is looking forward to reopening its doors on Monday (July 13), which will allow the team to provide even more support to those in need - please note that social distancing measures will be in place for everyone's safety.
