AN Ennis gym is shaping up to help ensure those in need have a merry Christmas, and is urging people to get involved and show its support, writes Jessica Quinn.

Ozone Health and Fitness has once again teamed up with a group of local volunteers led by Kathleen Austin to launch a food drive to support “genuine families in need” in Ennis and the county.

This endeavour will not just help these families at Christmas but also into the months ahead.

A donation box has been installed at the gym reception in the Quin Road Business Park and people are being encouraged to drop in non-perishable food or other household items for distribution to those in need.

Last year the appeal saw €3,000 worth of food and other essential supplies donated, and according to owner Ken O’Malley they hope to help even more this year.

He told The Champion, “Last year we teamed up with an extraordinary group of local volunteers led by Kathleen Austin to bring an incredible amount of food and household items to genuine families in need in the Ennis and Clare area, not only for the festive period but for many months beyond it.

“This was only made possible by the amazing generosity of our clients and greater community. To hear how such a combined, compassionate effort had helped make things a little easier over the Christmas for those struggling, made us very proud of everyone who contributed.

“This year has been a tough year for a lot of people and families and we want to deliver even more than we did last year to those most in need.

“Not everyone is in a position to contribute but if you are, we would love for you to take part in the Clare Christmas Food Drive 2021 by dropping off a long life food item or other household item from the list and help us to make a real difference again this year.”

Explaining how the drive works he outlined, “We have a big box in reception, it’s as simple as that. Our amazing clients have just been continuously contributing to the box, dropping in non-perishable foodstuffs.

“We found out very quickly when we started this that the big box we had had to grow about five times its size because it just gets filled up so quickly.

“We then drop the box off and all of the goods go to different charities. We have been working with Kathleen, who is an amazing person working in the parish and she has a really good distribution network through the parish clergy and working with Fr Martin Blake and they make sure that this food gets onto the table of the people who need it most.”

The drive has already seen many generous donations since it restarted this year, and they will continue to accept items right up to Christmas.

“We literally have a reception full of food here the moment. We’re looking for non-perishable items such as teabags, rice and pastas. We have a full list on our Facebook page.

“We had one woman who was here Sunday who popped in five selection boxes and I was chatting away to her and she said the reason she dropped them in is they were spare at home.

“Our guarantee to her through Kathleen and the distribution team is those selection boxes will end up under the tree for kids that need them this Christmas.”

“Thankfully this year, even with Covid, the gym has never been busier. We’ve had a huge uptick in membership, I think Covid helped in that regard because people are more conscious of their health.

“We only put the box in reception at the start of December and we have seen it fill up, probably even quicker this year because of our increase in membership.

“It’s just been incredible, we have probably over a tonne of food in reception at the moment. We’re taking donations right up to Christmas, last year the food we got we actually had so much that it lasted, in terms of distribution to the community, right up to February and March.”

He said that donations of any size are welcome and will mean so much to those who receive them.

“We have 80 to 100 clients a day walking in, if each of them brings one small thing with them it considerably adds up as you can imagine.

“We’ve had people drop in very small bags who could probably not afford any more. People are just so generous this time of year its fantastic.”
He also acknowledged the support of John McMahon and Kevin Talty at the Value Centre.

“What we find this time of year, people are just so generous and are so giving, and the Irish I think, as a whole especially, are just so good to think of other people that don’t have as much.

“There are 650,000 people in Ireland at the moment living on the poverty line, 200,000 of those are children. Someone once said to me that you can’t help everybody, but you can help somebody.

“Every small bit that is dropped into us here is we know, through the distribution channels with Kathleen and the local church, going to end up exactly where it is needed.”

For more details check Ozone Gym’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ozonegym/