‘People don’t forget when you help them, I know that I never did...’

A WOMAN from Trim was inspired to start a movement to help struggling families in Meath after vowing to return the generosity she and her family received from the local community when their home was destroyed in a fire when she was a child. Aisling Lowe's world was turned upside down when a fire gutted the home she shared with her mother in Athboy just after her First Communion.

Big-hearted Aisling (39), says she never forgot the way people rallied around her family during that difficult time and has dedicated much of her adult life to helping others who are in need.

The Meath Food Bank was started after she spent a number of years volunteering with You're Not Alone, a not for profit group that provides food and supplies to the homeless in Dublin. She says that through this, she became aware of local people struggling and wanted to focus on helping those closer to home.

“I started collecting things for the homeless about five years ago and literally my whole house got taken over as a drop-off and distribution point for two vans to go to Dublin weekly with food and clothing for the homeless. There was a lot of people that asked me for help in our own community and I noticed that there are a lot of homeless people in Dublin that are from Co Meath. I decided with the surplus food that couldn't be used on the street, that we'd make up little hampers for Christmas time.

 

Lilly Moriarty Rennicks with Aisling Lowe and Cllr Alan Laws at the Foodbank 

“My friend and I would have known families in the area struggling so we became like secret Santa's helpers and just dropped the food at the door and ran. After about a year I decided that it wasn't enough and that's why I started the Meath Food Bank. At the time there was no main general food bank for Meath. I set it up and asked people if they could help, do deliveries and donate food. People in emergency accommodation started contacting our page.”

Memories of being left without a home have always stayed with Aisling and is one of the reasons she is so passionate about making a difference to the lives of people who are going through hard times,

“My mother and I were made homeless in the 80s when our house burned to the ground in a house fire in Athboy. Literally, all we had is what we stood in, we lost everything. The people in Athboy were so kind, they all got together and had a benefit night for the people that lost their homes.

“I remember people bringing bags of toys to the door and handing me clothes and my mother saying to me, 'if you ever see somebody in this situation, you'll know to help them when you get a bit older in life.' People have been so good to us and it has just stuck with me.”

 “After the fire in our home, I remember not understanding why I couldn't go home to my toys and my belongings, I was only a child and this is why my heart bleeds for children in emergency accommodation. We were lucky we had the support of the community and our family and friends, not everyone has that.

 

The Meath Food Bank receives donations of food for local families.

“How a lady I know described being homeless was like 'an extra layer of skin you'd do anything to shed.' My mother worked her backside off to get our lives back on track and we were lucky to get our council house in Trim a year after the fire.

The community activist says that a wide demographic of people are struggling with the demands of modern life, many of whom are in full-time employment but cannot keep up with the cost of living in Ireland.

“There are a lot of people that maybe have financial debt and are in mortgage distress or people that have medical debt. Other people have been messed around with their hours at work, they have a family and are trying to keep a roof over their heads.

“People find it very hard to believe that we have a lot of self-employed and business people that need help. There are so many people who ring in a terrible state crying saying that their landlords have put their rent up and they don't know how they are going to cope.

“Some people have never been in this situation before and are very embarrassed having to ask for help but we are strictly confidential and the volunteers are all under oath.
People wanting to help is not something the Meath Food Bank is ever short of according to Aisling,

“I'm never short of volunteers, there is always someone who will offer their help and ring and ask can they help and it's all local people. If someone asks on that day for help, they get that food on that day. The volunteers drop almost anywhere in Meath and the food is discreetly dropped to their door.

 

Lilly Moriarty Rennicks with Aisling Lowe and Cllr Alan Laws who volunteer with Meath Food Bank

“If we get food in bulk here we will share it with the homeless in Dublin. There is nothing that goes to waste.

“Cllr Alan Lawes is one of my volunteers and is my drop off point in Johnstown for anyone that needs to drop off food. He delivers hampers and knows a lot of people in the community that are struggling and gives them the information to call us for help.

“My grandfather, Pa Lowe, was a former Meath county councillor and went above and beyond his duty. I remember when I was younger he used to just clip the trailer on to the back of his car and fill it up with turf and groceries for elderly people who were living in rural areas. The gesture of giving has always been in my family.”

Aisling has started a fundraising campaign in order to buy an extra cabin to store supplies,

“We need an extra cabin to get more fridges and freezers because at Christmas time we are going to be absolutely overwhelmed with donations. The cabin we have was donated by a lovely lady in Trim in December 2018 because we were so busy. Before that everything was being stored in my kitchen, it was like a warehouse.”

 

Aisling is currently fundraising to buy another cabin to store supplies

Every year Aisling and her team walk from Meath to Dublin to raise money for the homeless in Dublin with the last event raising over €8,000.

“I still want to help them for the simple reason that we have no homeless services in Meath and a lot of our homeless people are farmed out to either Louth or Dublin.”

“Meath Partnership has been very supportive to us and has provided us with free courses like social inclusion and how to promote your cause and fundraise and that has really helped us to progress. The goal for the future would be to have proper premises and have volunteers that can drop in and drop out whenever they like.

“My house is full of thank you cards. There has been a lot of people that we have helped out that might send us a message out of the blue saying that they are back on their feet now and want to help and they want to do a shop for the Food Bank. People don't forget when you help them, I know that I that never did.”

For more information find Meath Food Bank on Facebook