00:00The Canterbury Food Bank has just gotten a powerful ally in its corner.
00:07Former featherweight champion Barry McQuiggin has come down to launch the food bank's Easter holiday hunger campaign.
00:17From helping to pack parcels to signing boxing gloves to be auctioned.
00:24I came from a family of eight children. My father was a professional musician.
00:28We actually ran a grocery shop and I knew many families that did struggle.
00:34And mum would help out when she could and we never made a lot of profit but mum was always
00:41sure to help families that needed help and support.
00:45And they would not pay the bills for long times because mum was very lenient in just making sure that
00:51they got that support.
00:53So this feels like a natural thing to get involved in.
00:57The scheme helps provide food for families struggling to feed their children over the holidays when schools close and free
01:07school meals are not provided.
01:09The movement is more important than ever because of current world events.
01:15It's been difficult for years. We were hoping this year we might get our numbers down.
01:20They've gone up exponentially since Covid really.
01:23Last year we distributed enough food to make 135,000 meals.
01:28That's about 15,000 emergency parcels in the Canterbury district alone.
01:33This year we're up again and we were hoping there's a few governmental changes in April that might bring the
01:40numbers down.
01:40But what you said about the war is absolutely right. It's going to put pressure on prices again.
01:46As well as containing food for the family, these Easter parcels also have a letter addressed to the parents and
01:54guardians
01:55telling them how they can reach out to Food Bank Canterbury if they need help over the holidays.
02:03With the help of a boxing legend, this year's Easter campaign is sure to be a knockout.
02:12Henry Luck for KMTV in Whitstable.
02:16Henry Luck for KMTV in Whitstable.
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