1,500 families across Limerick can’t afford a Christmas dinner this year and 500 of them will be relying on Santa to find presents without any money in his pocket.
Those are only the people the Society of St Vincent de Paul knows about. As the Limerick Chapter launched its Christmas appeal this week, the extent of the misery caused by the recession is apparent to an organisation that has been dealing with poverty for decades.
The Society’s President in Limerick, Michael Murphy, has revealed that one on four of their clients this year are people who have never asked for anything before. Not all of these families are in poverty because of unemployment and they come from across the social spectrum.
Sadly, the biggest single problem which the Society encounters is fuel poverty. They have found families battling with bills of €2,000 or more just to heat their homes. Mr Murphy has appealed for people to remember that Christmas is about family and friends and not about consumerism.
That is right and proper but he is also a pragmatist.
No household with children in it can avoid the deluge of advertising aimed at small people and the resultant expectations. Parents have always been imaginative in managing those expectations but in many homes now, they are struggling just to keep the lights on – never Christmas candles.
If it were not for the Society, there would be tears in 500 homes instead of excited squeals and laughter.
It is a tribute to the people of Limerick that Mr Murphy can say that contributions to the Society’s Christmas churchgate collections have held steady year on year, despite the difficulties donors are experiencing.
In giving to the collections, or donating by contacting the Society in Ozanam House, Limerick people will be truly playing Santa to their less fortunate neighbours.
