The SU set up a food bank earlier this week, but it ran out of supplies within less than an hour.
The Students’ Union at University College Cork is appealing for donations after their food bank ran out of food.
On the GoFundMe page, the Union explained that they relaunched their food bank earlier this week to help students cope amid significant financial hardship.
However, despite generous donations, the food ran out in less than an hour.
The fundraiser reads: “UCC Students’ Union relaunched it’s food bank this week in response to the chronic financial hardship our students are experiencing as a result of the accommodation crisis, rising rents and costs of living associated with being a student.
“We opened the food bank today at 5pm and ran out of food by 17:48pm after loads of generous donations and being restocked.”
They continued: “This is the seriousness of the situation we are currently in not only in Cork but in this Country as we had over 100 students attend our Food Bank this evening.
“It was heartbreaking to not have enough for students who came afterwards, to have to turn them away and to see the amount of students living with food insecurity.”
The SU went on to explain that they will still be accepting food and hygiene products at their offices on 54 College Road. Money raised through the GoFundMe will cover food and hygiene products costs.
They added: “As sad as this is, mutual aid is a powerful thing. When people in our community are let down by the government and those with power, we must come together, share what we have and look after each other, because those at the top don’t care and won’t act. We won’t stop until no student is left hungry.
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
So far, over €12,000 has been raised on the GoFundMe.
