Renton woman sets up Tontine Food Pantry to support community

Julie Tobaben set up Tontine Food Pantry last year when she started using an app to help reduce food waste, but still had items leftover.

And the service is seeing rising demand as people continue to face financial challenges.

Julie set up Tontine Food Pantry last year

Julie told the Reporter: “There is an online app where you can do various food collections from supermarkets. It is all their yellow labelled stuff that needs to be used up.

“The idea was to prevent food waste as other people on the app can claim it from you from you for free. However I found that I still had loads of stuff left over - more than I could use for myself.

“That is when I randomly said to my husband that I was going to put a table out front and see if anybody takes any food. It started from there, with one little table.”

However, with the help of Lomond Sheds who donated a shed and Renton Craigandro FC she is able to reach a wider reach.

She relies solely on donations from the community in Renton

On top of running the pantry, every Thursday Julie volunteers her time at the football club to help with its warm hub and provide food and household supplies from the donations she receives.

The 67-year-old is now looking for donations so she can continue her work to help those in need in the community.

She added: The shed is open when I have food available. I am totally reliant on people donating food. I currently need baby stuff, household supplies, tinned goods and sauces like ketchup.

“There is no grants or government help for me. I do this all on my own, but if I can help people then I will keep doing it. It is the help of the community that keeps me running. It is the amount of uptake I get is phenomenal, but at the same time it is so disheartening that my pantry is needed.”

Julie said the pantry on Tontine Park will be open when the gates are open throughout the week. Contact Tontine Food Pantry on Facebook.