Hampers for the homeless extends helping hand in hour of need

When a fiver fell from the pocket of a rain-soaked, tattered coat, the owner immediately offered it as payment for the new jacket he was about to try on.

The man was, however, quickly assured by representatives of the two charity groups present in the tent on a wet and miserable night in Cork city – “Please join me in helping Cork’s homeless” and “Hampers for Homeless” – that payment was not necessary.

A few minutes later, one of the group saw him slip the note into the pocket of another homeless man. “He’s having a tough time at the moment,” he whispered when he realised he was spotted.

“The humanity of that moment just served as a reminder for me that we’re all humans and deserve the same respect and helping hand when it’s needed,” says Thérèse Cullen.

“I’ve been doing hampers at Christmas for years for friends and family; this year I decided to do a few for the homeless instead,” she says, explaining her role in the initiative.

“It just took off on Facebook. People started contacting me from all around the country, and the world – expats in America and Germany. One sent me a container of winter coats. When I started I thought I’d do 20 or 30 hampers, getting a few bits off friends and family. By the end of Christmas, I’ll have made around 400 hampers.”

The Christmas hampers have been distributed over the the past fortnight via such groups as St Vincent de Paul, Please Join me in Helping Cork's Homeless and Edel House in Cork, Adapt Women's Refuge Centre in Limerick and the Peter McVerry Trust in Dublin.

“We’ve taken 100 hampers and we’ve housed around 100 people in apartments across Dublin city this year,” says Francis Doherty, communications and advocacy manager with the Peter McVerry Trust. “So what we’re doing is our housing support team are picking up the hampers at our service in Berkeley Street and distributing them.

“Some would have recently moved into their own apartment – either one provided directly by the Peter McVerry Trust or in private rented accommodation - and others would be people accessing homeless accommodation this Christmas. We’ll be splitting the hampers between those groups.”

Luxury chocolates

The hampers – which were labelled for men, women or children – are filled with items such as thermal hill-walking hats and gloves, luxury brands of perfume, make-up and skin-care products, rain-jackets, pocket torches, home-baked mince pies and luxury chocolates.

“The quality of the hampers is in keeping with the trust ethos – because it’s all about the message that you send – that people care about them,” says Doherty. “These hampers reinforce that message that the trust is trying to make on a daily basis – that people value them in the trust, and people value them in society. This is showing some solidarity with people who have fallen on hard times.”

One of those receiving a hamper is Jason Brogan, who – via the Peter McVerry Trust – moved into an apartment just two weeks ago.

“People who are homeless are so used to being left aside and then all of a sudden this comes to the door,” he says, nodding at a Christmas hamper. “I’m just full of gratitude. It’s humbling. It’s a humbling experience to know that there are people who care.

“I’ve been in chronic homeless since I was 15. Most of my Christmasses I’ve been living in doorways. The only thing that should be in a doorway at Christmas is snow.”