A 150-year-old Cork city charity serving meals to 1,000 people a week is calling for donations of food in a bid to cater for growing demand.
Cork Penny Dinners, which operates in 100-year-old premises on Hanover Street, serves between 120 and 150 meals a day to needy clientele.
The charity issued its appeal yesterday amid growing strain on its service.
Trustee Florence Harrisson said demand had risen 400 per cent in the last three years with a marked change in the type of people it catered for.
“We greatly welcome donations of food. We have regular donors who are immensely generous, but the pressure to provide 1,000 meals a week is a constant struggle,” she said.
“Previously, we would have served meals predominantly to middle-aged and older men living in temporary accommodation or on their own, with little or no cooking facilities.
“That has changed now, we are serving younger people . . . and people who were previously self-employed that find they cannot avail of social welfare.”
Donations can be made via the Cork Penny Dinners website corkpennydinners.ie.