Six families living in tents and cars in Tullamore area

Activist Ken Smollen says he knows of three families living in tents, and three more living in their cars in the Tullamore area.

The Tullamore man now delivers food to an average of four families per day. Last Friday was his busiest day to date since he started food deliveries just over three months ago, when he dropped off bags of food to a total of 17 families across Offaly.

'I started collecting food back in December to help the homeless in Dublin. The first night I went up, the first three people I met were from Offaly, they had come up on the train to get food,' Ken explains.

'These people travel on the train regularly, they don't pay, if they're put off the train, they simply get on the next one. That's when I decided help was needed closer to home.'

Ken says the SVP and Lions Club help him with food parcels, and also local businesses, some of whomo hold a food collections on their premises, and it's needed more than ever as more and more people are coming to him now that they know he can be trusted.

'It's all about building trust. These people don't want to admit it to their own families that they need help, let alone their neighbours and friends. Many ask me to deliver after dark or late at night. I have people packing food for me to deliver and they don't even know where I'm delivering to, I would never betray anyone's trust,' he says.

On average, Ken now has one knew family contacting him every day appealing for help with food.

'I visit families in Tullamore, Clara, Ferbane, Cloghan, Banagher, Birr, Ballinagar, Edenderry, Rhode, and even in Westmeath, in Kilbeggan and Moate. I've visited families in Laois before and the other side of Galway city.

'This is a huge crisis. It's very similar to the mortgage distress crisis because it's very hidden. Pensioners are having to make the decision between whether to take life-saving medication, or food, it's that bad.

'If people are paying every last penny to keep the banks off their backs, then they are going with out essentials - like food and heat. I know families who call to the door with their coats on because they've had no heat all winter long. People are living in terrible circumstances, damp on the walls and ceilings, roofs about to collapse, presses empty.'

Ken says that only for people like John Cusack, manager of the Tullamore Bridge Shopping Centre, who allow him to hold regular collections, he would not be able to reach as many people as he can.

'There's Cash n' Carry Direct who have a food basket, Don Delaney who runs a second-hand furniture store, So Sad suicide awareness group, Derek Coyne of Bakehouse Café in Tullamore, Rosie's Café in Clara, Elvery's in Edenderry, Larkin's Pub, Pressed for Time drycleaners.

'The way it's going now is that I'll have to plead with even more businesses to help because the need is so great.'

If you would like to give to the Ken Smollen Food Collection, please only give non-perishable food like bread, sugar, tinned peas and beans, tinned fruit, rice and pasta, toiletries like toothpaste and sanitary towels, and biscuits for treats for children.

If you need Ken's help, send him a text message on 0851432898 and he will contact you in the utmost confidence. You can also private message him on Facebook.

'I've reached out to over 100 families since December, but I estimate that at least 500 families need help. Families are too afraid and embarrassed to come forward but there's no reason why anybody should go without food.'