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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Lifestyle
Andrew Robinson & Sophie Collins

Pensioner leaves people ‘extremely touched’ at food bank after her 'lovely' gesture to help families

An elderly woman has left staff and volunteers at a food bank ‘extremely touched’ after sending a sweet letter alongside a donation to help families this winter.

A handwritten note from the woman arrived at the foodbank and was complete with a ‘lovely’ message and a substantial cash donation.

In this letter, she said she recently received her winter fuel allowance payment from the government and said she now wanted to donate a "chunk of it" to her local food bank - saying there were families on low wages who needed the boost more.

READ MORE: 'I went to work a wife and came home a widow' - Irish woman on tragic death of husband in crash

The letter was given to volunteers at the Crossroads Meltham Foodbank in the centre of Meltham, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire Live reports.

The manager of the establishment, Chris Sinclair, shared details of the letter and said he was touched to live and work in such a warm-hearted community.

The letter read: "Dear Meltham Food Bank. I recently got my notice of winter fuel allowance, which is great, BUT as a retired single person, with work and state pensions, I feel that I don't need it as much as some families on low wages.

"I would like to donate a chunk of it to the Food Bank, and thought that if you spread this message it might encourage one or two others to do the same."

The note was shared on Facebook with the woman's permission and Mr. Sinclair said other people had since stepped forward to help the food bank in a similar way.

Some have made their own cash donations from winter fuel payments that they did not need.

He said: "It is a lovely letter and I was quite touched by it. It is a brilliant sentiment and has prompted a huge response from followers on our (Facebook) page. She was quite happy with the publicity for the good cause."

Chris says the demand for food among families is growing at the foodbank as many people of all backgrounds and situations struggle to cope during this global cost of living crisis.

He confirmed that volunteers deliver around 80 food parcels a month, with each one tailored to the recipient.

They include fresh and frozen food which are added to the parcel shortly before delivery, and go a long way in ensuring families that are struggling are being fed properly.

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