In the Company of Huskies has partnered with Little Flower Penny Dinners to raise awareness of the country’s food poverty rates, 173 years after the Irish Famine.
As part of the campaign, Huskies installed a non-functional food bank beside the famous Famine Memorial in Dublin’s Docklands, where people could donate a plate of food to Little Flower using a QR code. The campaign launched last week during St Patrick’s week with an online video and on social platforms.
According to research, one in five parents are said to skip meals to feed their families and the demand for food help increased by 70 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the cost of living soars, the numbers are likely to skyrocket. Since 1912, Little Flower Penny Dinners has given support, service and a place of welcome through providing 1,500 meals a week, every week.
“The great hunger didn’t just happen in 1847. It happens at 18:47 every night. 100,000 children go to bed hungry. This famine statue is such an amazing memorial, but this idea shows that hunger is not a memory for many people,” says Damian Hanley, creative director, Huskies.
Ruth Harkness, manager, Little Flower Penny Dinners adds: “I don’t think the wider population even realise how extreme the hunger issue is, and it’s continually getting worse. We can see it just by the sheer number of calls and visits to our door. People are trying their best, but still face huge dilemmas every day – do I eat, or do I heat the house? Money just isn’t stretching, and families don’t have enough food to put on the table, never mind school books. If Little Flower didn’t exist, I just don’t know what they’d do.”
To find out more about the campaign or to donate click HERE
