The St Barnabas cluster, the cluster of parishes across Milton Keynes, joined with other communities in the hope of providing more food to those in need.
On Monday, the 16th of October 2023, the St. Barnabas cluster participated in a record breaking event hosted by MK Food Bank called “MK Can”. The MK Food Bank arranged the event due to the demand for food increasing and donations of food have slowly begun to decrease. So, to try and raise donations for those in need, MK Food Bank decided to try and break the record for the longest line of food cans. This gave businesses and other communities a chance to not only help those in need, but also to have a chance to meet new people and promote their individual charitable priorities. At the event, there were approximately, 100 businesses, 20 schools, 30 churches and faith groups, 50 community organisations and 25 charities. In total, MK Food Bank was able to receive a total of 102,447 cans of food (11,000 of which were funded by the general public) and also break the world record by making a line that was 8.67 kilometres. However, all the food that was donated will last the MK Food Bank for around 6 months until they will need more donations for those in need.
Fr Francis Higgins said
“It is great to see so many people from across Milton Keynes come together to support this important cause. It seems really important that our Catholic parishes are involved in serving the most needy and vulnerable in society”.
The St. Barnabas cluster received a total of 2,000 cans of food and was able to cover a total of 200 metres, 150 metres more than they anticipated. St. Barnabas was able to gather numerous parishioners to come and help them with laying out the cans of food or even when they spoke to people as they walked past to try and encourage more people to join the catholic faith. When asked as to why they donated their time to help, one of the parishioners said, ” I wanted to help because I wanted to be apart of something that meant so much and could have a greater impact on those in need of help. It is amazing to see the amount of people who have dedicated their time to come and help and I’m happy to be apart of it”. The St. Barnabas Cluster of parishes were delighted to be part of the event as it is an important part of our mission to care for those on the fringes and practically provide for those in need.
For more details and information about St Barnabas you can email parish.stbarnabascluster@northamptondiocese.org or call 01908221228