Support food banks for the needy

Saturday, January 12, 2013
7:00 AM

Christmas is over. Many of us enjoyed our Christmas dinner with our tables laden with enjoyable food.

Many attended church services on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day and gazed with wonder on the Holy Family in the stable. On Sunday, it was Epiphany, the time when the Wise Men came to the stable bearing gifts for the Christ child.

What gifts do we bring to the crib? I hope it was ‘humble, thankful hearts’.

Did we call to mind the words of the carol “with the poor and meek and lowly, lived on earth our Saviour Holy” when we gazed on the crib?

We have a new phenomenon in our society now – food banks – for those families struggling to cope in these difficult economic times.

We have all heard the slogans The Big Society, Team Great Britain and One Nation. We can now put this into practice by donating non-perishable foods to the food banks.

Many churches are taking part in this initiative and it is not a case of just going along to church at Christmas – we can go along to church anytime each week during the year and donate to the cause.

It is the custom to donate food at Harvest Festival time to show our thanks for the harvest, but these food banks are a greater challenge to us and need our support each week of the year.

Having got used to making donations during the year, I challenge us to make Advent 2013 (the four weeks before Christmas) the biggest Harvest Festival ever. Not just going along to church at Christmas but also on two or more Sundays during Advent. We will then prove that we are the Big Society caring for others and ensuring nobody goes without.

Ian Downs

Meadow Street

Exmouth