“I’m seeing new faces here all the time now. Tomorrow, that could be me.”

Darren is a Community Team Leader at one of Foodbank’s regional charity partners helping us host our Farms to Families markets and he knows first-hand what it’s like to go without food.

“When I was unemployed, I had to eat cans of baked beans for dinner because that’s all I could afford.”

He’s on the ground every day seeing the impact of the pandemic and the soaring cost of living.

On any month now, around 200 people attend our Farms to Families market … I step back and I go, ‘That’s amazing.’ And then in the same breath, ‘That’s tragic.’

You can never, ever underestimate how much the smallest gesture can make a difference in someone’s life. It can be a bag of groceries; it can be someone to talk to. It’s these moments where people say, ‘Gee, thanks for making me feel special.”

We’re seeing what Darren describes right across Victoria which is why we’ve introduced our Mobile Supermarket buses to reach even more people in need. We’ve partnered with Kinetic – who’ve fitted them out and keep them up and running – and they give us the drivers too! These double-length buses have been refurbished as a supermarket on wheels to deliver food to vulnerable people around Melbourne. That’s on top of our Farms to Families market visits to reach regional communities like Darren’s. But we simply can’t do it without the help of generous supporters.

Want to help get much-needed food delivered to the families who need it most?