Retired Dubliner Who Makes Curry For The Homeless Goes Viral
A heartwarming story about a Dublin man's selfless act has gone viral. It's after A Lending Hand - an organisation dedicated to helping the homeless and people living in emergency accommodation in the capital - shared a photo of one of their volunteers earlier this week.
The group offer free sandwiches, hot meals, clothes and sleeping bags to those sleeping rough every Monday night from 8 - 10.30pm on Dame Street.
This week, one of their volunteers, Brian, who is retired made 50 individual 4 in 1 chicken, curry, rice and chips.
On Facebook, A Lending Hand posted that Brian needed a lift from Ballyfermot to Dame Street to transport the meals and were inundated with offers to help.
They wrote:
“So this gent who is retired, makes our homeless pals over 50 4-1 chicken curry rice and chips every Monday night,. Tonight he’s stuck for a lift from Ballyfermot to Dame Street and back, would any of you lovely people be able to help him out?”
The photo has since gone viral on Reddit and Imgur, with people from all over the world praising Brian as an "unsung hero".
Speaking to 98FM, the organisation's founder Kiera said she set A Lending Hand up because she couldn't get over the scale of the homeless crisis in the city.
"Brian is one of many amazing volunteers we have that cook for over 50 people. We would be lost without him."
"I set up the soup run because I couldn't believe how bad the crisis is. We hand out food, clothes, toiletries, sleeping bags and anything that is donated. We don't get funding so everything is paid for by us."
Kiera went to on tell us that she hopes to open up her own hostel for the homeless in the future.
"I'm about to begin a degree in Trinity in Sociology and Social Policy so one day I can have my own hostel and run it my way so people are integrated into society in a more productive way."
If you want to get involved, A Lending Hand are looking for people to cook meals or collect toiletries, clothes and sleeping bags and drop them to their volunteers outside the Central Bank from 8pm on a Monday evening. You can get in touch with them here.