A woman whose allotment was sabotaged said she was “overwhelmed” after celebrities and members of the public donated more than £160k to her initiative.
Carly Burd helps to feed struggling households in Harlow, Essex.
She was “heartbroken” to find the soil covered in salt just after 300 onions had been planted by local disadvantaged children.
As donations rose she said she was “so grateful and literally lost for words”.
The mother-of-three has supplied more than 1,600 people with food parcels since September, through a mixture of crops grown in her garden and donations.
“Thank you so much everyone,” she said, “we’ve worked so hard and it was such a kick to have [the damage] done and then for everyone to turn it round and do so much is absolutely unbelievable.”
Messages of support included one from football pundit Gary Lineker who tweeted: “Why would you ever do something like that?”
The former footballer’s name was subsequently listed in the top donations on her fundraising page.
Speaking to BBC Essex, Ms Burd said she had “never been so hurt in my life when it happened”.
“It was devastating, I couldn’t think who would be so nasty… it was mindless,” she said.
“Then when everybody started stepping up and supporting us it was like we were in a whirlwind… we are so, so, so grateful.
“I’m literally lost for words, I’ve never been so gobsmacked.”
Entrepreneur and BBC Dragon, Steven Bartlett donated £2,000 and told the BBC he was “so moved by her story”.
After hearing that the Dragon’s Den star also said he would “love to help further”, Ms Burd said that “honestly means the world”.
“We’re lost at the moment, we’re just normal people from Harlow so to be in this position we are a bit dumbfounded, so to have that extra help means so much to us,” she said.
Ms Burd added that she was now working quickly to get her initiative registered as a charity so that they could “do the most we can”.
“[We want to] make the biggest impact [and see] how we can use this money to literally change our home town,” she said, “get the community working together, get more allotments open and get food to the most vulnerable”.
“I’m not going to waste it. It’s more than my dream come true, it means we can help people,” she said.
Source – BBC News
Share your thoughts