A family with three children were about to spend Christmas without lunch but, on the eve of the special holiday, they were delivered two boxes filled with hams, sauces and other food.

The boxes were delivered to their doorstep after someone called YMCA Homeless chairman Jean Paul Mifsud to alert him about the family in need.

“The offices were closed when they called me on Christmas Eve. I asked a colleague to open the stores and someone else took the boxes to the family… I guess it sounds cliché, but it happened,” Mr Mifsud recounted.

YMCA Homeless could help out that family thanks to the occasional public call for food they make to fill their stores so that they can then distribute it to people in need.

According to recent figures issued by Eurostat, some 89,000 people, or 21.4 per cent of the Maltese population, were at risk of poverty or were severely materially deprived in 2011 – an increase of 1.1 per cent over 2010.

There are about 30 people living in YMCA’s shelter and a further 30 to 40 people every day use their drop-in service. YMCA, he added, also distributed food to social cases.

YMCA’s food stores have been depleted over Christmas and it is now making a fresh call for the donation of food such as pasta, sauces and tinned foods. Anyone who wishes to help out can leave the food at the nearest Melita outlet since Melita is a sponsor of YMCA and is helping in the collection.

Donations can also be taken to the YMCA offices at 178, Merchant Street, Valletta. For more information, send an email to info@ymcahomeless.org or call 2124 0680.