Catholic Social Services reluctantly shut down its Cashel St food bank earlier this month, citing the rising cost of essential food items and a lack of donations.
“It’s terribly sad our efforts to feed those who cannot afford food ceased because it had become unaffordable,” said Simon Thompson, general manager of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch.
“The difficult decision came after 12 months of effort to find additional funding streams.
“With Catholic Social Services receiving very few donations of food and only a tiny discount from supermarkets, it was no longer financially viable to operate the food bank.’’
When the food bank closed down, it was limited to supplying about a dozen food parcels delivered weekly.
Thompson recommended people seeking food parcels from Catholic Social Services should first approach their partner organisation, St Vincent de Paul.
Although the food bank has closed, Catholic Social Services expects to resume its soup kitchen programme soon.
