* The Greenwich Foodbank: overcoming hunger through the power of collective generousity.JUDY'S REAL LIFE STORY:
[ .."My husband was an accountant. With his financial expertise, we took pains to budget carefully for retirement – we prepared our whole lives for it, and had a comfortable savings...So I wasn't prepared when we lost it all..I had two young children..I had to change my lifestyle completely – it was tough...
..Thankfully, I had my community (Church) to turn to for support. Through my involvement in church, I began learning more about food assistance programs, including (The Foodbank). I was amazed. So many people in our community were struggling – including myself, and yet, so many of us had no idea this program was available...
..I never assumed I will be on the receiving end..and I knew that it has a lot to do with my passion for continuing to give because I always want to make sure that I help someone..so that someone else can stand up and say `I can do this and with a little help, I can continue doing it for a long time'." ]*
Stories such as Judy's are common. Yet, many of us are not aware of the crisis others face when we allow ourselves to be locked away in our own little world of luxury and self-sufficiency - even when we might or might not have been, albeit partly, responsible for their suffering.
Woolwich Online picked up the vibe of the efforts of the Greenwich Foodbank and decided to do a report on it, ensuring we were open to all possibilities.
Research for the food bank report took Discovery Missions to various places - including the supermarkets around the Town Centre - to look at canned food and other edible stuff, accepted at the Foodbank.
We visited Wilkinson, Lidl, Iceland, Sainsbury's, Morrison's in Thamesmead and Co-operative and Iceland stores in Plumstead.
Unlike some places where individuals set up private foodbank at certain times of the year, the Greenwich Foodbank network is an ongoing rapid response against hunger.
More an insurance than a bank, the network is designed in a way that those who have found themselves in a situation of feeding difficulty or crisis can draw out of it.
Woolwich Online found that services at the various outlets vary but are usually generous and satisfactory.
>>> REPORT CONTINUED AS DIRECTED BELOW >>>>>>
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* Words in bracket in Judy's story above were inserted by us for clarity.
** Images: for illustrations only.
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<>Acknowledgments:<>
We are grateful to the leaders of the various churches who kindly granted us interviews and answered our questions, including, Mr. Alan Robinson (Greenwich Foodbank, Eltham); St. Peter's Catholic Church, (Woolwich); New Wine Churt (Woolwich); Rev. Victor Lambert (Emmanuel Babtist Church, Thamesmead); Guy Davies (The Salvation Army, Plumstead); Rev. Gabriel Olumide,(Fresh Grace Global Christian Centre, Plumstead); RCCG - City Of David (Woolwich Dockyard). As well as Volunteers from the respective "client facing centres" who assisted us with our research and provided insight into what they do to help the Foodbank - and how they do it. Well done guys!
Click on coloured TEXT to read the complete report: >>>[.]THE GREENWICH FOODBANK.
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