'It's heartbreaking'- Laois homeless charity runs out of hot meals on food run

The demand for help from the Laois homeless charity, Portlaoise Action to Homelessness (PATH), has grown "exceptionally" in recent times, according to the group’s Vice Chairperson.

PATH provides help to local people in Laois experiencing food poverty and homelessness, as well as what the group describes as “the nation’s homeless” in Dublin.

PATH volunteers provide hot meals to those who need them every Saturday and Wednesday.

The volunteers meet at St Peter & Paul’s Church in Portlaoise where local people can avail of the freshly prepared food, before the group set off to Dublin to help feed the homeless in the capital.

Speaking with the Leinster Express, the PATH Vice Chairperson Jason McEvoy emphasised the importance of helping homeless people no matter where they may be and explained that it is particularly important to help those in Dublin because homeless people from all over the country go there because it’s where the most amenities are.

Jason also noted that the demand for hot meals in Laois has increased recently. On Saturday night, the group ran out of meals on their food run.

“We don't really know one week if it's going to be ridiculously busy or just the normal standard. But having said that, we never have extra hot food. And we could have up to 150 or 200 meals,” Jason said.

Around 100 volunteers give their time freely to help out in many different ways, from making sandwiches to driving the volunteers around. Local businesses also help out by providing food.

Unfortunately, PATH lost one of their food providers recently which has put further strain on the group, especially considering the local demand.

“We have a lot of local people looking for assistance that meet us at the church grounds before we leave. Obviously there's people there looking for assistance and help anywhere, but that's after growing exponentially. You could say it's gone from below 10 to 20 people to sometimes nearly up to 40 people looking for assistance locally before you even get up to look after the nation's homeless in Dublin,” Jason explained.

“So even though we're prepared for our nation's homeless in Dublin, we still have to be prepared for any circumstances we see with people in Portlaoise and surrounding areas as well.”

With the demand growing in Portlaoise and the shortage of suppliers now, PATH has appealed for any local businesses to help out if possible. They especially need help on Wednesdays which is when they are most stretched.

Jason shared that it was devastating for volunteers to have to tell vulnerable people that they ran out of food on Saturday night.

“When we come across individuals and they have no food, and we have no food to give them, it's heartbreaking for us and for them.”

He pleaded: “We're hoping that maybe some local company could provide us with those meals.”

In addition to the hot meals, PATH provides food vouchers through donations made by people.

“You can get vouchers for McDonald's or for Supermac's, and that helps too. That can bridge the gap. If we run out of hot food, at least there's a voucher for them. That's great and all, but we have to get the funds in to do that and we have to have a stable company on a Wednesday to help get us food supplies and hot food.”

From Jason’s eight or nine years of experience, anyone from any walk of life could appear in the queue for help.

Although he said it was seldom, children can at times be at the Church in Portlaoise looking for help.

“Volunteers might see pregnant women, really old men, really old women, young people as well. Some weeks you mightn't see any children, other weeks you might. It's sad to see. It could be anyone.

“Someone comes for assistance, they're hungry, need some toiletries, might need a sleeping bag, might need a pair of socks, they might just need a bottle of water. They might just want a conversation.”

Jason said: “We just do our best and help who we can, when we can. We don't turn anyone down.”