As winter draws even closer the last month has been a busy one for Food Not Bombs Dundee. When we went out with our trolley at the beginning of the month to speak to people, offer advice about local services, and to offer warm drinks and soup in compostable Vegware cups and bowls we were asked for warm clothes and sleeping bags by many people who had nothing to keep them warm. We mobilised and reached out to outdoor goods stores for donations and when Mountain Warehouse agreed to give us a generous one off 40% discount for anything in the online store we reached out to our online communities to fundraise.
We hit our £250 goal within 6 hours and over the weekend raised a total of £435! With the donations and the discount code we were able to buy 10 four season sleeping bags, 12 pairs of fleece lined gloves, 12 hats and 12 pairs of thermal socks to distribute amongst the community. We’re also working with local vegan cafe Marwick’s so that people living in Dundee with spare winter clothes and sleeping bags can donate meaning that we should be able to continue to help if we identify a further need.
On Saturday the 23rd which was a horrendously wet night and we headed out to distribute all of the items we managed to gather and were able to supply every item to a needy soul. We couldn’t believe the number of folk out in this weather either sleeping rough or panhandling. We’ve recognised that there is a need for us to source warm items for folk to help get through the winter so we’ll continue to fundraise and source items where we can.
Is there a demand for a Food Not Bombs chapter in your community? Perhaps you could band together with people in your area to start a group? Or, if you just want to take action yourself, to help people experiencing homelessness this winter consider taking some spare gloves, an extra sandwich, or some coins out with you to give to folks in need.
