Kilkenny Helping the Homeless: 'Christmas time means a lot of new faces'

Nine years ago Mary and Brendan Pierce set out to do whatever they could to help people in need in Kilkenny. 

When asked what has kept them going all this time, Mary paused for a moment and then answered:

“I often wonder it myself and Brendan would often wonder the same,” she joked.

“I think the satisfaction we get from doing what we do is what drives us on.”

She recalled that a couple of weeks ago, they had a man at the house and he was sitting at the table and asked if he could have some of the leftover chicken. 

Of course, Mary said ‘of course’ and gave it to him. The man then revealed that he was ‘absolutely starving’. 

Mary said that being able to ‘load him up’ with food and hot drinks to keep him going for the night and the next day meant everything to them.

“Every second Saturday we have a story like that and I think that’s what keeps us going,” she said.

“You could come home broken and you could come home elated.”

She likens it to ‘food for the soul’.

Kilkenny Helping the Homeless is a registered charity that offers food, clothes, household items and personal items to those in need in Kilkenny and in Dublin.

They travel up to Dublin every second Saturday with volunteers and distribute food on Grafton street. Mary said that they usually begin preparing for this on Wednesdays. 

The weeks they’re not going up to Dublin, they do food banks for the locals in Kilkenny.

The journeys up to Dublin have become slightly more daunting as the group are using a van that is ‘fragile enough’.

“It’s a real work van,” Mary said, adding that it is on the road ‘all day and all night’.

Despite the troubles, Mary said that the van is doing the job, for the moment.

“We’re still able to drive up, now, the next morning it’s like anyone who was out on the beer, it’s a bit hungover.” 

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds to replace the van. 

“We do have to anticipate that it may just give up sooner rather than later but we’ll use it until it falls apart,” she said.

The people and local businesses  of Kilkenny have always supported the charity’s efforts and endeavours. 

Mary said that they will miss the support they got from the Supervalu in Market’s Cross that closed recently. 

She said that the staff in Supervalu were ‘amazing’ to them and that they will miss the trolley of food and €50 shop that they would provide them each month.

Dealz are also huge supporters of the charity. 

“Tomorrow morning now, we  have  a  load  of  chocolates  to pick up down there and that makes a huge difference to us because we wouldn’t be able to go out and buy the chocolate, not in the amount we would need,” she said.

She explained that Dealz have an offer on the till for customers if they would like to support the charity and that money that they donate buys the chocolates from Dealz so that they are able to donate it to Mary and the charity. 

She added that the amount of chocolates that Dealz has given them will carry through for practically a month. 

Mary and Brendan also work with families in need, people who have just moved into new places and don’t have household items such as beds or wardrobes, or saucepans, cutlery or cups.

“It’s great that we’re able to do that, they’re simple things but everyone can afford the simple things. The bigger things, they’d probably use their money for gas and electricity and all that stuff, so there’s no money left over to try and buy these little extras.”

She said that people are looking for duvets, hot water bottles and heavy blankets to battle the  harsh cold  temperatures creeping in.

“It’s hard to put a child to sleep with no heat,” she said.

Most people would have Mary’s phone number, she revealed, and would call if they need something. Mary and Brendan or one of the other volunteers would then drive out to whoever is in need and bring soup or sandwiches or they would bring them to the chip shop if they’re hungry. 

Local people would also call Mary if they were passing somewhere and saw a tent or someone who looked like they might need assistance, and someone would go down and have a look and offer them whatever aid they can. 

“There’s so many different needs and whatever their needs are, we try and come up with whatever they need.”

There’s a ‘good team’ of volunteers who come from all over the country to help out. 

One of these volunteers is Jackie Cullen. 

Jackie has worked with Kilkenny Helping the Homeless for around five years and Mary described her as a ‘trojan worker’. 

In 2022, Jackie and Brendan embarked on an ‘absolutely epic’ journey to Ukraine to bring medical supplies to the front lines and to bring nappies, clothes and toys to an orphanage in Poland, where Ukrainian children and mothers were sheltering. 

When they were loading the van, Jackie said that they noticed that the van was leaking oil  onto the driveway. 

One quick phone call to Danny Egan Transport however, and a new van was brought to them and they were able to begin their journey. 

Jackie and Brendan documented their trip on Facebook, with two teddies named Ted and Tessie being photographed at different stages of the journey.

Ted and Tessie ended up staying at the orphanage with a lucky boy and girl and Jackie and Brendan have stayed in touch with a group of kids over there, whom they send presents to twice a year. 

When asked what was the most efficient way someone could help out the charity, Mary said that their biggest issue at the moment is getting warm winter clothes. 

“It’s winter all year around if you’re sleeping on the streets.”

Mary said they will always, no matter the season or weather, need warm clothes, sleeping bags, underwear, hats, gloves and scarves. 

She  has noticed that in the lead up to Christmas, there’s always a lot of new faces, but ‘if they need a sleeping bag then they get a sleeping bag’.

After Electric Picnic, Kieran Kelly went up to collect some of the discarded sleeping bags and  tents. 

The community in Ballyfoyle washed and dried them and Mary received them ready-to-go.

The supplies they got from Electric Picnic have all already been distributed, because they will ‘always, always need’ sleeping bags. 

She has established strong relationships with those they help in Kilkenny and Dublin.

“The connection we’ve made with so many of them, we see the same faces every two weeks no matter what.”

One of these faces is a man from Kildare. He comes up every second Saturday all the way  from an ‘old folk’s housing estate’ for duck eggs. Mary explained that he just really loves duck eggs. and then another man revealed a fondness for them and another so now duck eggs are a staple of the Dublin journeys.

“They might have a home but they wouldn’t always have the little extras.”

Mary and Brendan are showing no signs of slowing down either, saying that there’s something special about it that makes them want to keep doing it.

“This is our passion, this is what drives us forward and when we do sit down, we appreciate the bit of time we can sit on the couch together and enjoy a cup of tea. It’s the simple things, really and truly the simple things.”

“Not every man would be able to work 13 or 14 hours and still come home and deliver food bags and come home at 11 o’ clock and be up for four o’ clock the next morning,” she said proudly. 

Jackie Cullen said that when she met Brendan and Mary, her whole thinking changed. 

“Brendan and Mary are an absolute legend of a couple. They’re very unselfish. They go out on a limb. They work all hours and go out late at night delivering,” she said.

“I’m just so glad that I am a part of their lives through friendship and volunteering because what they do is simply amazing.”

The most valuable lesson Mary has learnt is that you cannot take anything for granted and you have to appreciate the little things.

“One chap we see tomorrow night, we might not see again.”

“We come home on a Saturday night and we know we’re coming home to a warm house, we’re coming home to a warm bed. We can turn on the kettle and have a cup of tea. These things are luxury but we can see it as being a luxury because of what we do.”

“Seeing the people on the streets has definitely made Brendan and I more aware of what we have and how precious life is.”

Visit the charity’s social media pages for a glimpse into the incredible work being done daily for those in need.