Celtic FC to Donate €10,000 to Feed Cork During Leeside Visit
Ahead of their appearance in the Cork Super Cup, Scottish club Celtic has announced a significant donation to a local charity. The Celtic FC Foundation will present €10,000 to Feed Cork, an organisation dedicated to tackling food poverty across the city and county.
Celtic Football Club will mark its upcoming visit to Cork with a generous gesture, announcing a €10,000 donation from its charitable arm, the Celtic FC Foundation, to the local food charity, Feed Cork. The official presentation is scheduled to take place in early July, coinciding with the club's participation in the Cork Super Cup at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on 8 July.
Feed Cork has become a vital service since its establishment eight years ago. From its humble beginnings with just five food hampers in May 2018, the charity has grown into a significant network with five locations, including one in West Cork. To date, the organisation has provided an incredible 80,000 food hampers and over four million meals to families in need throughout Cork.
A key innovation for the charity was the opening of Ireland's first Social Super Market in July of last year. This initiative allows the 220 families served weekly to shop with dignity. For a small donation of between €7.50 and €10.00, clients can select between €100 and €120 worth of food in a comfortable retail setting run by volunteers.
The charity also runs the "After School Fuel" programme, now in its fourth year. Recognising that children fed at school may go without on weekends, the programme provides freshly made, easy-to-heat meals. It currently supports around 100 of the community's most vulnerable children every weekend, delivering 37,000 meals last year alone. Other initiatives include providing school uniform packs and Christmas meals for families facing hardship.
Tony Hamilton, Celtic FC Foundation Chief Executive, stated:
“Feed Cork is a charitable organisation so close to our heart and we are delighted to be making this donation. The work being carried out in Cork and other areas is really in line with our own objectives and origins. It is tragic that food poverty continues to have such a crippling effect on so many people, but organisations such as Feed Cork continue to tackle this head on and make such a big difference to people in need.”
Hamp Sirmans, Director of Feed Cork, added:
“We are so grateful to Celtic FC Foundation for a donation which will make such a real difference to our work. I know Feed Cork and Celtic are very much aligned in what we do and, through this outstanding support, we will be able to develop our own resources and help more and more people.”
He continued:
“So many families continue to struggle financially in Ireland and face huge challenges: our commitment to helping them is absolute and our work will continue as long as this need exists. We sincerely thank Celtic for such significant support in helping us in our work.”
