Watch: ‘Social supermarket’ is a spin on food bank for Cork charity

A food bank in Cork city has put a modern spin on how it serves more than 200 families with four tonnes of food on a weekly basis.

Feed Cork, located at Cork Church on Lower Oliver Plunkett St, has been operating since May 2017 and the director of the organisation, Pastor Hamp Sirmans, explains how the style changed from a standard food bank to a ‘social supermarket’ in July this year.

“The food bank model is changing all over Europe, like the UK, Italy, and France, who are doing things a lot of things differently to a large degree of success,” Mr Sirmans said.

A standard food bank would see a limited selection of food placed in boxes for people to take away, usually food with a long shelf life. However, a social supermarket setting is laid out like a supermarket floor, with a mix of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, and non-perishable foods on dedicated food stands, as well as a selection of frozen food in freezers donated by Lidl.

Mr Sirmans grew up in poverty, as he was raised in a single-parent home and his mother got injured at work, and later fell into addiction.

Food bank

After leaving home, Mr Sirmans set up a food bank in South Carolina that helped 200 families every week while contributing to the establishment of other food banks in the area.

Founder and senior pastor of Cork Church, Nick Cassidy wanted to start a “community project” and Mr Sirmans spoke about his experience with food banks in the US.

Mr Sirman’s speciality in the sector led to the creation of Feed Cork.

Unlike a food bank, clients of a social supermarket pay a donation at the till, which Mr Sirmans believes is a huge benefit to the client.

“A social supermarket is where there is a small contribution by the client, which not only helps the service operate but studies have shown that it is a huge benefit to clients as they are contributing to their own success.

“We want people to raise their head and give them a sense of dignity — that’s a major part of our core values," he added.

At Feed Cork, the clients pay a €10 donation, who would in turn walk away with more than €100 worth of groceries.

“We’re non for profit. We are not selling food products; we require a donation of €10 and families would walk away with between €100-€120 worth of food.

“They are not paying for the food but they’re paying for the service,” Mr Sirmans said.

Social supermarket

According to Mr Sirmans, the clients prefer the social supermarket approach compared to the food bank practice in place before.

Feed Cork gathers its stock from a range of partners including Lidl, M&S, and Food Cloud, just to name a few.

Feed Cork pride themselves on giving clients a range of different foods that contribute to a nutritious diet.

“We got a great relationship with All Fresh Wholesale in Little Island. We wanted to up our game with food and veg, because we value nutrition.

“The fact that we can offer fresh fruit and vegetables is very important to us,” he added.

Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for Feed Cork, as they cook and deliver more than 800 Christmas dinners to those in need on Christmas Eve.

“Everybody feels the pressure putting something out for their kids at Christmas and I don’t care how rich or poor you are,” Mr Sirmans said. “Christmas is our busiest time of the year. We’re going to deliver over 800 to 1,000 Christmas meals to families who wouldn’t have a Christmas meal otherwise.

“They are fantastic meals from Brook Foods,” he added.

Feed Cork relies on volunteers to function, and they are actively looking for people to lend their time.

Ann Cotter started volunteering at Feed Cork five years ago, and she said a lot of people “envy” her for being in the position to volunteer. She said volunteering opens your eyes to what is going on in and around the city.

“It [volunteering] wakes you up to what is happening in the city and there are a lot of people who are not in homes, and it’s right across the board, whether you are a foreign national or Irish.

“The housing isn’t there. The facilities are not there. We have to make the best of what we have,” she added.

Volunteers

The volunteers say they are not in the position to judge anyone, as their priority is to make sure everyone is comfortable and feels respected.

As more than 200 families use the service, Ms Cotter makes putting a smile on children’s faces her main priority.

“My main priority is the kids. I want them to come in and remember the good days instead of the bad days at a food bank. We try to make an effort with the kids with sweets, toys and jellies,” she added.

Naomi Barr has been a volunteer at Feed Cork since 2019, and the South African native said spending time as a volunteer puts your own situation into perspective.

Ms Barr was grieving the loss of her husband when she heard about Feed Cork when Mr Sirmans reached out for volunteers on the radio.

“For a couple of hours, you have someone else to focus on and you realise that you have nothing to complain about [in comparison], thank God,” Ms Barr said. 

“We never ask ‘what did you do with your money’ or anything like that, it has nothing to do with us.”

Feed Cork has seen an increase of people reaching out for supports in the last quarter, which coincides with the cut in benefits for Ukrainian refugees.

Mr Sirmans said Feed Cork has some “amazing” Ukrainian volunteers who want to give back to the community.

“We are so supportive of that and it’s important to support the Ukrainian population in particular who are dealing with what they are dealing with.

“It doesn’t matter what their background or story is and right now, we feel it’s important to offer help,” Mr Sirmans concluded.

To donate to Feed Cork, visit https://www.feedcork.com. If you want to volunteer with Feed Cork, email: foodbank@feedcork.com or call 089 273 3324.