Sunderland AFC and its supporters’ group Red and White Army will be hosting a Foodbank collection on Saturday ahead of the club’s Sky Bet League One fixture against Bolton Wanderers.
In partnership with the Foundation of Light, the collection will provide vital support to the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen and the Sunderland and Durham Foodbank.
Earlier this season, Australia-based supporter Stuart Hudson made the incredible gesture of donating £5,000 to the community-based organisation.
As well as supporting the fantastic work their undertake within the region, the proceeds were also used to purchase season cards for volunteers and visitors.
SAFC matched this offer and donated a further 10 season cards, as part of the club’s ongoing commitment to ensuring all within the local community can attend fixtures and support their club.
Andrea Bell, founder of the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen, said: “We want to thank our amazing donor and Sunderland AFC for supporting our volunteers and visitors at the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen. They have helped to enable life experiences unavailable to many and are continuing to bring people together within our city. We are very excited to partner with the club and its supporters’ groups, as we work together to end hunger poverty within our community.”
Chair of the Red & White Army, Andrew Hird, added: “Following the return of fans to the Stadium of Light, Red and White Army are pleased to continue our partnership with Sunderland & Durham Foodbank and now the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen in providing a donation point for these two very valuable organisations. We've seen the fantastic generosity of our supporters in assisting the foodbank pre-covid, as well as during the pandemic with the drive through collection before Christmas. We're hoping fans can donate what they can to support the organisations in what will undoubtedly be an extremely challenging period for many within our community."
The collection point will be hosted within the Fanzone at the Beacon of Light from 12 noon to 3pm on Saturday, with supporters asked to donate some of the following items if they are able to:
UHT Milk
Fruit Juice
Sponge Puddings
Savoury treats
Biscuits
Jam
Tinned Pies
Tuna
Suet Puddings
Canned Chilli
Tinned Meats
Tinned, mixed vegetables.
Over two tonnes of food were donated by SAFC supporters during the 2018-19 season, with further collections also taking place during the 2019-20 campaign prior to the covid-19 pandemic.
The wide-ranging impacts of the past 18 months continue to affect many people across the North East and we would like to thank our supporters for continuing to back the fantastic local organisations supporting all within the City of Sunderland and the wider region.