Charity group hands out more than 9,000 meals during pandemic
A charitable group has came to the rescue of hungry people in lockdown by providing thousands of free meals.
Friends of Di's Kitchen [FoDK], based in Wolverhampton, delivers food parcels to vulnerable people every Thursday.
The group's capacity in helping people has grown massively since the start of the pandemic, from catering for six people a day to almost 400.
Since the start of the pandemic, FoDK has handed out more than 9,000 meals.
It has been able to expand its operation through social media and networking, meaning food donations have increased over the months, benefitting more and more people.
Jan Kellond, who runs FoDK with a small team of volunteers, said: "Our primary purpose is to give a nutritious three course meal every Thursday to whoever needs one.
"Being able to provide food parcels to our guests came about through the generosity of the people of Wolverhampton.
"When the first lockdown occurred we were no longer able to serve our meals from a church hall so decided to deliver to people in need.
"Our profile grew through the media, social media, other charities and organisations and word of mouth.
"From six deliveries at the beginning of April to last Thursday, when we delivered 387 meals across the city, that is how far we have grown.
"We are a group of like minded people – who are now friends - with a common interest in helping those in need.
"We rely on both financial donations to enable us to purchase the ingredients for our three course meals and food donations to share with others.
"We rely on volunteers to deliver both our meals and food parcels.
"Currently we have 16 volunteer drivers following all Covid 19 regulations to safely deliver to 19 of the 20 wards in our city."
Jan said there has been some success stories where once dependant families are able to support themselves.
For more information about FoDK, visit www.facebook.com/friendsofdiskitchen.
