Maria McGlynn and Caroline Crawford pen Christmas single to help feed 500 families

A Christmas single penned by local women Maria McGlynn and Caroline Crawford and recorded by the Life Triumphant Church Choir in Patrick Street could feed 500 families this festive season, with the support of the Derry public.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Dec 2016, 19:00 BST

All proceeds from sales of, ‘Who Can I Bring Jesus To?’ - written by Maria in late October and launched on Bandcamp last month - will support the Foyle Foodbank Christmas Appeal, a real lifeline for families suffering from food poverty at this time of year.

Pastor David Cullen said the aim was to raise £10,000 and help tackle what he described as a hidden epidemic still plaguing the city as 2017 approaches.

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“Five pounds can feed one person, twenty pounds can feed one family,” explained Pastor Cullen.

“Think about it like this, if you say, ‘I’ll not get a Chinese tonight’, if you cancel your Chinese for one night you’re going to feed a person for four days, or a family for a day.

“If we can get the city behind it we can easily raise £10,000. You can feed five families for £100. How many can you feed for £10,000?”

Pastor Cullen heaped praise on Maria, Caroline and the team who came up with the tune in whirlwind time.

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“Maria is a member of our church and a local here in Derry and she wrote the song in one night.

“The song’s designed to go beyond the Christmas glitter and the tinsel to what’s really happening in our city.

“She got together with our choir director Caroline Crawford who put a melody to he song and then the church choir got involved and from the song being written and then the melody and the music it took four weeks.”

Pastor Cullen said that the need for food package donations was unfortunately as pressing as ever.

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“There really is a hidden epidemic in Derry. The Foyle Foodbank is inundated, absolutely inundated. What you find, you know, is a change of culture. I remember as a kid things weren’t always easy but you used to go next door to borrow some sugar until your Da got paid. The neighbourhood worked together but that culture’s no longer there.”

He said he thought the best thing about the ‘Who Can I Bring Jesus To?’ charity campaign was that it was all about local people giving their neighbours a leg up.

“What I love about this is that it’s all about Derry people coming together to support Derry people,” he said.

Buy the single: https://lifetriumphantchurchchoir.bandcamp.com/track/who-can-i-bring-jesus-to

Related topics:DerryJesus