Man donates to food bank that helped his family

Kenyon Kirkpatrick filled his trolley with calendars to give to the food bank his family relied on when he was a child

When Kenyon Kirkpatrick was growing up his family - who were struggling with living costs - depended on food banks.

So when he heard about an advent calendar appeal by Bracknell's food bank, it "hit home" and he decided he wanted to help.

The 21-year-old shop worker said the food bank was "there when my family couldn't make ends meet" during his early teens.

He has donated more than 100 advent calendars and said he "felt like it was only right" to give back "now I am in a position where I can."

'Time to do my part'

Bracknell Foodbank started their appeal to get 400 advent calendars to donate to families in need in the Berkshire town at the end of October.

Mr Kirkpatrick said: "The moment I heard about it I thought I need to get involved with this.

"As a child you don't really know what's going on until you grow up and start to take a step back and look at things differently.

"Now I am a bit more - I guess you could say - mature I can look at the bigger picture and think these lot helped me it's time for me to do my part and help back."

He decided to donate 100 towards the food bank's target but it ended up being a specific amount of 108 "because they were only sold in boxes of 36".

"The shop workers looked at me a bit weird when I asked for a trolley for them," he said.

Thanking all those who had donated advent calendars at the Lexicon, in Bracknell, the food bank, run by Kerith Community Church, said it was incredibly grateful for the generous donation.

Advent calendars for the Bracknell Foodbank can be dropped off at the shopping centre until 17 November.

The giving box can be found in Princess Square.