Community group ‘disappointed’ after Taco Bell allegedly refuses to package food for Northampton’s homeless

For the last year, Taco Bell in Sixfields has been supplying up to 30 meals at a time for the Sikh Community Centre & Youth Club (SCCYC) to hand out to Northampton’s homeless - that is, until two weeks ago.

Amarjit Atwal and other volunteers from the SCCYC went to the fast food restaurant on Sunday, July 9 at 5.30pm to order around 30 meals - as they have done every six weeks for the last year.

Amarjit told Chronicle & Echo that, after ordering on Taco Bell’s touch screen kiosk and paying the full price of £110.40, he approached staff to ask them to individually package each order - again, as they have done for the last year.

However, after handing over their individually packaged orders, according to Amarjit, staff said they will no longer be doing this for them. Amarjit said they were told the meals would not be put in individual bags anymore.

Amarjit said: “At that point, I said why not when we need to hand them out on the street for people individually in all weather conditions? We can’t start packaging meals at the side of the road.”

When Amarjit asked why the fast food service wouldn’t do this anymore when the group pays full price for orders, he was told that Taco Bell wanted to reduce the amount of packaging used.

“We said, if 30 people came in and ordered individual meals, you would have to package them separately anyway,” Amarjit told Chronicle & Echo.

“I just don’t understand why they are taking this approach. We are trying to do a good thing here to give the people on the streets a treat. Realistically, it just comes down to [them] not wanting to do such a big order.”

Amarjit told this newspaper that, despite submitting a complaint to Taco Bell after the incident, he has still not heard back over a week later.

Taco Bell was contacted for a comment more than 24 hours ago. No response has been received.

The SCCYC has been handing out free meals to rough sleepers across Northampton for nine years now. The Taco Bell meals were received very well because it was considered a “rare treat” for homeless people.

Over the lockdown period, the community group helped up to 300 people per week including victims of domestic abuse, single parents, homeless people and the elderly by providing food, clothing and other much needed essentials.

The SCCYC now faces a new challenge - finding a new local business willing to supply individually packaged meals for rough sleepers on Sundays around every six weeks - fully paid for.

Amarjit said: “Timing is key for us. We need to be on the street for 6pm and the meals need to be hot. We need to be packing up the food at 5.30pm.”

If you are a Northampton-based food business and you want to help, email the SCCYC at [email protected].