This last week has been especially busy for volunteers working behind the scenes at Rye Food Bank rationalising the stock management and warehousing in order to comply with new safety precautions.
As reported last week all food donations now have to be quarantined for three days. This means we need to handle and move deliveries and donations, which are often large, and heavy boxes of tins a lot more and we need more fit and strong volunteers to help us – please!
We are distributing around two tonnes of food each week so the heavy work is considerable. We would like more help for about three hours per week. If you can help, contact Bob at ryefoodbank@gmail.com to arrange registration and training.
In separate locations in Rye and around the villages there are about twenty five households, who for reasons of illness, disability or needing to care for others, are unable to visit the food bank to collect their food parcel and so need deliveries – and we all appreciate the efforts of Nikki and Andy Stuart who deliver using the van donated donated by Rye Community Transport, and the generous effort of Amber Carr who delivers around Peasmarsh in her own vehicle.
The numbers needing food bank help continues to grow and this week we helped 78 adults and 94 children.
For the time being, monetary donations are more helpful to enable the food bank to buy in bulk packaged items which require less handling and so are easier to manage.
Contact details for Rye Food Bank
Phone: 07526 349847 or email: ryefoodbank@gmail.com
We are open at the Baptist hall, behind the church in Cinque Ports Street in Rye on Wednesdays from 9am for donations and the food bank is open from 1pm until 3pm. The Rye Food Bank phone number is not manned all the time, but you can leave a message and we will respond. Email is better and this is monitored several times during the day and in the evening.
Donations make a big difference
Monetary donations can be sent to the Bexhill Food Bank Rye Branch at Barclays Bank, sort code 20-54-25, account number 83501116, through the Jempson Foundation or cheques to Rye Food Bank c/o 24 North Salts, Rye. If you donate via the Jempson Foundation and are a taxpayer, gift aid can be applied, thereby increasing the value of the donation by 25% at no cost to the donor.
If you need help from Rye Food Bank, contact Rother District Citizens Advice (CAB) on 01424 215055; email: help@rotherdistrictcab.org.uk, or the Hastings Advice & Representation Centre (HARC) on 0333 344 0681; email: info@harcuk.com.
Image Credits: Mags Ivatts .