Tag: foodbank

Breakdown

Last Friday I was driving three young people from my church to a youth event in Manchester. The tea time traffic was as bad as the weather. I had roughly reached the halfway point of my journey when suddenly, all the lights on my dash came on, and the car trundled to a halt. If this wasn’t bad enough, the car came to rest on a bend in probably the only spot on the A1 where there is no hard shoulder!

Passing large lorries were beeping at us with frustration and cars were having to brake sharply as they approached to avoid the broken down vehicle in the road.

We needed help quickly and especially before it got dark and the hazard more dangerous.

It was so scary, but I managed to get everyone out safely behind the barriers and we prayed that no one would get hurt by crashing into my car in such a dangerous place.

I had done all I could but I needed help to change my circumstance.

There was such a sense of relief when the police arrived to cordon my car; stating that it was the worst place on the A1 to break down!

All in all, it took 3 police, 2 police cars, RAC tow truck & driver, RAC van and mechanic, my husband and his friend to help me – my crisis was on the A1, when I got home my crisis was over.

However, the people who we serve at King’s Lynn Foodbank their homes are their places of crisis, through bereavement, partner walking out, sickness, unemployment, redundancy, unexpected bills, delayed wages or other circumstances out of their control.

These situations could happen to anyone at any time.

You cannot ring 999 when your circumstances break down; when you can’t make ends meet and put food on the table for your family.

But that’s where we as the community together can become the breakdown cover for those who are left vulnerable, who have done everything they can but need help to change their circumstance.

We (and in saying ‘we’ I do include every single person who donates or volunteers) are the relay team to get them from the place of no hope to the place of safety; that’s why King’s Lynn Foodbank is so vital.

We are so grateful for the on-going support of this amazing community – thank you!

Our hope that one day there will be no need for us, but until that day comes, we will continue to offer the best possible service to help local people facing these unforeseeable crises.

Kat Taylor

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Kat Taylor

Foodbank Project Co-ordinator

King’s Lynn Foodbank
Registered Charity in England & Wales (1151936)
British Red Cross Building, Austin Fields, King’s Lynn PE30 1PH
Tel: 07582558143 or 01553 762659
Kat@kingslynn.foodbank.org.uk
www.kingslynn.foodbank.org.uk
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Restoring dignity and reviving hope in Kings Lynn and surrounding areas.

‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:35-36

Defending the poor

poor
Imagine this. You’re walking through the market one day and in the distance you can hear a growing commotion. The sound of animals charging, birds flapping, coins flying, tables crashing, traders shouting… and one voice above them all. Jesus, armed with a whip of cords, brimming with righteous anger at the injustice around him. We see this picture in the Bible

You see, these traders preyed on the poor, selling overpriced doves to people who couldn’t afford bigger sacrifices, forcing punters to use temple currency, exchanged at extortionate rates.

Two thousand years later and you have to ask two questions. Firstly: do the poor get a just deal? Is it just that the Foodbank is the town’s fast-growing charity? Is it just that they distributed 26 tonnes of food in the last year – almost as much as in the previous two years combined? Is it just that people rely on the generosity of friends because nobody can give them a straight answer about their benefit claim? Is it just that someone who can’t afford £175 for a washing machine has little option but to pay £7 a week for three years (that’s £1,092 in total)? Is it just that human trafficking – that’s slavery – exists? And may well exist in a town (or even a street) near you?

Secondly, what’s our response? The Bible tells us “open your mouth, judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor”. If you have any kind of a voice – a vote, a group of friends, a position of influence, a place on a voluntary committee, a Facebook or Twitter account – think: how can you use your voice? To speak up for the 2,000 people illegally trafficked into the UK each year? To speak up for those trapped in a cycle of debt and poverty?

Now, I’m not suggesting you go into a well-known rent-to-own retailer and start pulling plasma-screen TVs off the walls. But consider the world immediately around you and consider how you can be the voice for people who don’t get to be heard.

Andy King, The Gateway Church