Queues began forming as early as 4am, leaving many people disappointed after missing out on food parcels from the centre
Alan Bailey, manager of the centre—which has been distributing food packages to the city’s citizens for around 30 years—told the Irish Independent that in the 50 years he has been helping homeless people in the city, he has “never seen” them run out so early.
“In the 52 years I’ve been involved with the centre, I’ve never seen this happen before,” he said.
“It’s something we never anticipated happening, but it’s a demand that has been gradually building up.
“When we arrived this morning, there was a queue forming at 4am, and at one stage it stretched from our place along Bow Street right back to Church Street, so it was a lengthy queue.
“We had a large number of Gardaí present, and without them, we would’ve been totally surrounded.
“It was stressful when we saw that supplies were dwindling early because the last thing we want to do is disappoint anyone.
“But we only had 3,000 tickets, and it’s a case of where you stop,” he added.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 11th December 2024
The centre serves roughly 1,050 meals a day, free of charge—up from about 700 a day five years ago.
Mr Bailey confirmed to the Irish Independent that they currently serve around 350 breakfasts each morning and 700 people for lunch.
He said that the Capuchin Day Centre has annual running costs of around €4.7m, of which €400,000 comes directly from the government.
“We are seeing our costs creeping up all the time,” he said.
“We are totally dependent on people’s generosity, and without the generosity of ordinary people, we wouldn’t be here now and we cannot acknowledge that enough.
“There is a huge demand for nappies and baby food.
“We have roughly 200 families on our books who come every Monday morning, and we provide them with enough supplies to get through the week, as this is a huge expense for a family,” he added.
The centre ran out of Christmas food parcel tickets shortly after 9.30am, causing frustration and distress among those queuing.
Many had arrived hours before the doors opened at 7am, but demand far exceeded supply.
Weekly food bags, typically available until 11am, were also gone by 9am.
According to research published earlier this year by the children’s charity Barnardos, the number of parents reducing their food intake to ensure their children have enough to eat increased by 12pc since last year.
The study found that 41pc of parents had skipped meals or reduced portion sizes to enable their children to eat.
Almost a quarter (24pc) had borrowed money to feed a child in the past year, up from 16pc in October 2022 and 11pc in January 2022.
