Council and McDonald’s supply food banks and mental health unit during pandemic

Councillors and staff at McDonald’s, food banks and the mental health unit at Basildon Hospital recently teamed up to help get food to people who need it most.

Basildon Council Mayor, Councillor David Burton-Sampson, was contacted by Paul Stringer from McDonald’s last Tuesday as businesses were asked to close their doors to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Mayor David Burton-Sampson said:

“Mr Stringer said they had a large amount of perishable food which they did not want to go to waste, but a limited amount of time to get it distributed before they commenced their lockdown.

“I offered to help however needed, and the staff from McDonald’s were wonderful: a couple of members of the McDonald’s team moved all the stock from their four Basildon and Laindon restaurants to the Festival Leisure site for distribution from there.

“I contacted as many people as I could to try and arrange distribution of the highly in demand food, items such as milk, eggs, vegetables, and bread – all necessities.

“Over the years the franchisees of McDonald’s in Basildon have always done so much to support our community. Even now when their own business is being tested they continue to think of how they can help and support others.”

Basildon Council’s Chair of External Affairs, Liaison and Partnerships Committee, Cllr Aidan McGurran, was heading to the Basildon Foodbank in Pitsea last Tuesday (24 March) and agreed to collect as much as he could to take along. Cllr McGurran said:

“The response was overwhelmingly positive.

“We all know groceries are in demand, and food scarcity is one thing already vulnerable people and charities like food banks just do not need right now – I want to thank McDonald’s and foodbank staff for showing that we can do something positive to confront this as a community.”

Gen and Ayhan Isikgun, who own and operate four restaurants in Basildon, said:

“We were happy to be able to support such an important cause. Playing a role in local communities has always been important to our team, and this is more important than ever in these challenging times.

“McDonald’s restaurants and franchisees across the country have been doing whatever we can to support the needs of our local communities, and this crisis has shown the real impact we can have when we all pull together.

“We want to thank our team, Basildon Council and all those who work at the food bank in Pitsea who have been brilliant in facilitating this support. We look forward to being able to open once again as soon as it is safe to do so.”