THE Kent Messenger is asking its readers to remember those people for whom the festive season isn’t a time to be jolly.

With the season of goodwill nearly upon us, the KM has launched its annual You Can Help appeal for the homeless.

For the fifth year running, the newspaper hopes its readers will help collect enough tins and jars of food to keep the Maidstone Christian Care Day Centre running for another year.

Last year, readers donated 9,500 tins of food at drop-off points in supermarkets and shopping centres to feed the homeless at the charity’s day centre in Knightrider Street, Maidstone.

This year the KM is hoping to go one better and is urging all its readers to help collect 10,000 tins to ensure this latest campaign is even better than the last.

All it takes is for every one of the KM's readers to buy just one extra tin of food when they go shopping in the run-up to Christmas and donate it.

The centre will then be able to feed some of the poorest people in Maidstone for a whole year.

The Kent Messenger is hoping that this year – with the help of readers, churches and schools in the area – the newspaper will be able to collect 10,000 tins.

Every tin donated will help provide a hot meal for someone who really needs it. The donations will mean the centre will be able to prepare two meals a week for individuals and families.

Centre fund-raiser Angela Clay said: “The response to last year’s Kent Messenger You Can Help campaign was tremendous and thanks to the people of Maidstone, there was plenty to eat at the day centre and our store cupboards were very well stocked for a long time.

“Christmas 2005 is going to be even more special because we have just launched Food For Thought, our community food share scheme, which is going to help not our homeless clients but the families, children and elderly people in Maidstone who don’t get enough to eat.

“Last year, day centre staff and volunteers used their own cars to collect from the supermarkets and it was a real struggle to get all the food on the back seats and in the car boots.

“This time, we will have the luxury of the new Food For Thought Peugeot van, which has been donated by Bakers Oven, a wonderful gift that is already making life so much easier for us.

“We are very lucky to live in such a caring community; so much can be achieved by working together.”

IF you want to help, you can donate all sorts of food. All we ask is that it is non-perishable.

Tins of corned beef, ham, jars of jam, soup, tinned vegetables, coffee, baked beans and jars of pickle will be welcome.

We’ll even accept dog food, as some homeless people look after dogs who have also found themselves on the streets.

All you have to do is take one of these items to one of our drop-off points. So please, next time you go shopping, spare a thought for the homeless and if you can, buy one extra tin.

The following supermarkets have agreed to take part:

* Morrisons, Sutton Road, Maidstone

* Sainsbury’s, Quarry Wood, Aylesford

* Somerfield, New Hythe Lane, Larkfield

* Tesco, Leybourne Way, Larkfield

* Sainsbury’s, King Street, Maidstone

You can also make food donations at:

IF your school, church or organisation would like to help collect tins, please call Katie Byrne on 01622 695666 or e-mail kmnewsroom@thekmgroup.co.uk

* This report was omitted from the current edition of the Kent Messenger due to a production error. The KM apologises to its readers.