A dedicated team of volunteers have managed to distribute food parcels to more than 1,700 local households in Levenmouth in the space of just six weeks.
Fife Voluntary Action (FVA), The People’s Pantry, Levenmouth Foodbank, Levenmouth Together and Fife Council have all joined forces to form the Levenmouth Community Assistance Hub in direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The incredible response would also not have been achieved without the ongoing support of a number of organisations, such as Fareshare, Stuarts the Bakers, Brag Enterprise, the Community Trade Hub and Fife Council, including the local authority’s janitorial team, all of whom are providing staff and vehicles to aid the collection, packing and distribution of food parcels.
Dave Paterson, Levenmouth community manager, added: “The council distributed personal protective equipment and cleaning materials to all volunteers and staff at the forefront of the local response.
“The Centre Leven, Buckhaven and Methil Community Centres, Sandybrae Centre and the Sailors Rest have all given some of their annual income to help support this local response.
“Cash donations from the Leven Rotary along with several anonymous donations will further help the Levenmouth Community Assistance Hub continue the area wide response for several weeks.”
Mr Paterson noted that the support doesn’t end there though, with local support groups making a valuable contribution to the effort – with Mary Parry of Mybus, James Torrance and the team at Agenda, and Lilly’s Larder providing a weekly supply of ready meals for food parcels, and the Nisa Store in Leven’s Commercial Road providing fresh produce like milk, bread and eggs.
Cassie Marshall, from Levenmouth Foodbank, commented: “When the Covid-19 crisis first hit us in Levenmouth, the foodbank was overwhelmed with the level of need in the community.
“We had to make quick response decisions into how we operated, alongside losing the majority of our volunteers due to age or health reasons, It was a very worrying time for us all.
“We quickly began to run out of food due to the high levels of growing demand and we were struggling to remain in operation.
“We were then very excited to be asked to partner with The Peoples’ Pantry and FVA during this crisis to form the Levenmouth Community Assistance Hub.
“We moved in temporarily to The Centre in Leven so that we can all work together to provide food parcels for all who need them in our community. This has given a huge sense of community spirit and given us hope back that we can remain in operation during this crisis.”
Councillor Ken Caldwell, convener of the Levenmouth area committee, said the response had been “heartwarming”.
“In times of crisis it’s imperative we all pull together and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he concluded.
“Together we’ll get through this and emerge stronger on the other side.”
