GENEROUS benefactors who had once been first to put their hands in their pockets to support good causes, are now forced to turn to those same charities for help with putting food on the table.
Both the Vincent de Paul and the Shannon Lions club found themselves at the homes of former contributors this Christmas. But instead of collecting a cheque, they were bringing one.
“People are embarrassed by this. But we always say to them that we’re delighted to be able to help after their having previously supported us,” VdeP regional president, Michael Murphy, told the Limerick Post.
According to Mr Murphy, those who were self employed are among the hardest hit.
“These are the people who would always have been so generous, making contributions at Christmas and other times. When their business fails, they have no social welfare to resort to, and a lot of people are in that boat because during the Celtic Tiger years, there were so many who set up in business for themselves”.
Cllr Tony McMahon is president of the Shannon Lions club and says this is a phenomena which his organisation has encountered.
“There are people who were contributors, some of them now in need of our assistance and we do what we can for everyone who needs us, but we couldn’t possibly meet the enormous need out there”.
The organisation has particularly noticed an upsurge in requests for help with heating bills and fuel bills, and it’s getting more difficult to meet all of the requests for help.
“We certainly want to thank everyone who supported us but, in the coming years, I think I will have to be recommending to our organisation that we must reduce the base of people we will help”.
This Christmas, Vincent de Paul brought seasonal cheer to a massive 2,000 families in the region, a large increase on previous years.
Back to Mr Murphy: “The big corporate sponsorship has dried up but we continue to be amazed and humbled by how generous ordinary people are when we have an appeal”.
