Community's generosity inspires Shrewsbury 11-year-old to get involved in foodbank project
A community in Shrewsbury has spent lockdown collecting items for foodbanks, including 11-year-old Rhys Wood who has cerebral palsy.
The local shop, Robson Stores Greenfields Ltd, even organised donations from their shop after owner Emma Wood got her and her son, Rhys, involved in the project.
Karen Green, who lives in Shrewsbury, started collecting for Shrewsbury foodbank from her community in Lime Tree Meadows, as during the pandemic they were needing supplies.
She said: "The whole idea began at the beginning of lockdown when we knew people would be struggling. All of our community have really taken it on.
"During this time I spoke to Emma Wood from Robson Stores in Greenfields and she has organised donations from her customers at the shop.
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"The week before last she texted to say she has lots of items from her customers and was presently with her 11-year-old son Rhys at Asda as he wanted to personally buy items to make a parcel for a family. She said they went over the normal budget because Rhys said ‘Don’t buy cheap mum, everyone needs a treat’.
"I asked Emma about Rhys and she said maybe it’s because he has had a tough start. He has had many medical problems during his little life and this has left him with cerebral palsy."
Karen said it was amazing that Rhys was so thoughtful and wanted to help.
Emma, Rhys's mum, gives him a £10 budget to spend on his parcels, and she said he almost always goes over – wanting to buy all the special items in the shops.
"We had already done our shopping one week, and bought the extras for the foodbank, when we walked outside the shop and found a crumpled £20 note," Emma said.
"There was nobody there and it was so crumpled and wet it had probably been there a while. Rhys said: 'Let's use it to buy more food for the collection.'
"It has been lovely to teach him and get children to understand that families aren't always as lucky.
"He is so funny, he picks up all the best items, from the special ranges, and says everyone needs a treat. It has been a hard four months as a shop owner, but we are lucky to be carrying on working. So having this to do as well has been really nice for the whole community."
The food parcels have been donated to Shrewsbury Foodbank which has bases at Barnabas Church Centre and Hope Church.
