Members of Blackwood Rotary Club have donated half a tonne of food to Rhymney Valley Food Bank.
The club’s chairman said: “We had a note from the food bank saying how desperate they were for food.
“It’s the summer holidays so there’s no free school meals. The food bank’s stocks were depleted.
“This was funded through fundraising and donations.
“It’s part of our community policy to help where we can. We’ve supported food banks for a good many years now.”
The food was bought at the Sainsbury’s store in Pontllanfraith.
Club member Ian Johnston, who is a former Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, said: “We were guided by what the food bank wanted.
“There’s a link between the number of families on the poverty line and a lack of school meals during the summer holidays.
“Food bank usage peaks during the school holidays.”
Rev Leah Philbrick of Rhymney Valley Food Bank said: “It’s an incredible amount. We’re very grateful to Blackwood Rotary Club.
“Our donations tend to dwindle in the summer. We’re always dependent on a weekly flow of donations and we’re so grateful for the help.”
Rev Philbrick added: “In the current climate we only expect the demand for the food bank to continue to rise and both our Rhymney and New Tredegar distribution sessions have been very busy over the last year.
“Since April we have fed 756 people and expect that by the end of the financial year we will have served as many if not more than the 2,145 served the year before.
“We are working hard to ensure that clients who come to the food bank are connected to the right support agencies who work to support them out of their particular crisis. We work with more than 35 support agencies and organisations who are able to identify and support people in need. Last year we gave out 16,779 kg of food.”
In a letter to the rotary club thanking them for their support, Rev Philbrick said: “We are ever so grateful for your incredibly generous response to our appeal for help. Our stocks were getting very low at the beginning of the summer and because of your generosity we are now on good footing as we enter the autumn period when we expect more regular donations through harvest collections at schools and churches.
“The summer is often a challenging time when donations take a real dip so we cannot express enough our thanks for helping us through this period.”
The food bank, which is based at Hafod Deg Resource Centre in Rhymney and White Rose Centre in New Tredegar, is part of the Trussell Trust.
For more information about the food bank or to make a donation, visit rhymneyvalley.foodbank.org.uk.