West Donegal woman launches Christmas food appeal for the Capuchin Day Centre

Megan Ward from Belcruit is doing a Christmas food appeal for the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin. 

The food items suitable for donation are non-perishable, such as canned food, dried pasta, rice and cereal. Donations such as fresh food, clothes or glass containers cannot be accepted. 

Items can be donated to St Mary’s Hall, Kincasslagh, on Saturday, November 29 and Sunday, November 30, between 11am and 2pm. 

There are drop-off points set up in local supermarkets - The Cope Mainstreet Dungloe, SuperValu Dungloe, Gallagher’s Foodstore Gweedore (Siopa Michi). 

Donations are also welcome through the iDonate link and organisers will buy non-perishable items on your behalf. 

Megan has run the food appeal for the past number of years, but has encountered difficulty this year. Living in Australia has meant waking up in the middle of the night to post to social media and “not being at home to promote it and organise it,” she tells DonegalLive. “Being in Australia is not an excuse for the homeless in Ireland to not receive their collection this year, so I reached out to my family and friends and asked would they help me organise the 2025 food appeal and of course, they all said yes without a second thought.”

Megan’s mum and dad, Sheila and Adrian, are running the food collection. “I am very lucky to have such a supportive family that is going to be there to run the food collection. 

“It’s become part of a Christmas tradition for our family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The kids get involved through the schools and then the weekend of the collection, we bring them along to do the food shopping, giving them an understanding of what we are trying to do, how not everyone is as lucky as we are to have a roof over our heads and food in our cupboards.”

Megan Ward and the late Brother Kevin Crowley, founder of the Capuchin Day Centre, who retired after 53 years of service

The Capuchin Day Centre, located on Bow Street in Dublin city centre, was founded by Brother Kevin Crowley in 1969. It provides a service for homeless people in Dublin, giving them access to food, shelter, hygiene facilities and medical services. The day centre provides around 700 meals a day, inclusive of breakfast and dinner and every Wednesday, the centre donates 1400 food parcels to those in need.