Queensland braces for a further rise in hunger

12^th OCTOBER 2020: Queensland’s largest hunger relief charity, Foodbank Queensland, today reported that demand for food relief is higher than ever recorded and warns it has not yet seen ‘peak hunger’ in the COVID-19 crisis.

Foodbank today published its annual Foodbank Hunger Report which revealed that, while government assistance measures, such as JobSeeker and JobKeeper, have provided much needed temporary relief, charities and Queenslanders in crisis have an extreme sense of unease about the future as these measures are rolled back.

Almost half (45%) of hungry Queenslanders who are receiving benefits do not know how they will cope or expect they will not cope well at all.

Foodbank Queensland CEO, Sara Harrup, said COVID-19 is having a profound effect on Queensland’s hunger crisis, with one third (33%) of those facing hunger in 2020 having never experienced it before.

“We are seeing the highest demand in our 25-year history, with more than 340,000 kilograms of essential food leaving our warehouse every week to help Queenslanders in need,” she said.

Ipswich Foodbarn Managing Director, Qim Kauwhata, said they are being forced to turn away more families every week than ever before due to increasing demand.

“Since COVID-19, our centre has been supplying food hampers to approximately 500 families every week, but are sadly, due to food shortage, sending away more than 300 families who need our support,” Qim said.

While need for food relief has become somewhat erratic and unpredictable, charities are reporting that overall demand is up by 47%.

Ms Harrup said the organisation is seeing new groups reach out for help, in particular casual workers and international students.

“These individuals tend to be younger, so it is not surprising that our report shows it’s our youth who are bearing the brunt of COVID-19. They are going without food more often than any other age group with 65% of food insecure individuals aged 18-25 going hungry at least once a week.”

In Queensland, people seeking assistance at least once a week has increased since last year (from 11% to 18%).

Now in its eighth year, the Foodbank Hunger Report brings together research between April and August 2020 undertaken with both charities and individuals experiencing a hunger crisis.

-ENDS-

Media enquiries

Zoe Templeton
Marketing & Communications Specialist
Foodbank Queensland
P: 07 3395 8422
E: zoe@foodbankqld.org.au

North Queensland flood recovery support

Long after the flood waters have gone, families and individuals across North Queensland are slowly getting back on their feet. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our frontline charity partners in the region, food was one less thing to worry about for those affected by the floods.

In just one month, we were able to assist nearly 8,000 people with food relief. Thanks to your generous support and our wonderful partners, we were able to provide more than 900 family hampers, FareShare frozen meals, a whopping 50 tonnes of cleaning products supplied by Colgate and Palmolive, along with vital household goods. All of which was transported, for free, by Linfox and AHG.

On behalf of Foodbank and our frontline charity partners, thank you for your ongoing generous donations and support. It really does make a difference.

You’ve just made something wonderful happen

Foodbank Queensland Holiday Hamper Banner

Thank you for your care and compassion

Because of your kind gift, a Queenslander going hungry can now put food on the table. Your generosity means more than a meal – it brings relief, dignity and the strength to keep moving forward.

Your gift will help parents put dinner on the table, children start the school day with a full stomach and ready to learn, and expand food relief to regional and remote communities. We’ll keep you updated with the impact of your gift so you can see the difference your generosity is making across our community.

Thank you again for showing you care, and standing with us to ensure no Queenslander goes hungry.

Your receipt will arrive in your nominated email address shortly.

If you have any questions, please contact fundraising@foodbankqld.org.au

More Ways You Can Support Foodbank

Foodbank Queensland couldn’t exist without our generous community of donors, monthly givers, fundraisers and volunteers.

Find out other ways you can get involved below.

Volunteer With Us

The Foodbank Queensland team rely heavily on individuals who generously give their time to help us get food to the people who need it most. By joining our team, you will make a direct and positive community impact.

Find out more

Fundraise for Us

Every $1 you raise creates 2 nourishing meals for someone doing it tough. Fundraise with us and help fill plates, fuel futures, and bring stability to families across Queensland.

Find out more

Partner With Us

Foodbank Queensland relies on an amazing network of local and state partners to fight hunger. There are many ways your organisation can support the work we do. We’d love to hear from you, so get in touch with our team today!

Find out more

Our day out at IKEA North Lakes!

It was a busy day for the Foodbank team as we partnered up with Matt Preston and IKEA North Lakes for a cooking demonstration involving the famous IKEA meatballs! We invited customers to come and chat with us, find out more about what we do and enter a raffle for a chance to win some IKEA goodies!

We also had the opportunity to speak during the cooking demonstration about everyday things we can do to cut food waste. Simple things such as meal planning, making a shopping list, not being tempted by the 2-for-1 offers and freezing leftovers.

You might be wondering what happened to the fresh produce displayed during the cooking demonstration. Well, just under 50kgs of cauliflower, melons, herbs and a variety of other fruit and vegetables were all donated to Foodbank and snapped up by our charity partners.

Thank You function at Government House

The beautiful gardens and heritage listed residence of Government House provided the perfect setting to personally thank our donors and supporters. Guests had the opportunity to mingle on the Government House lawns before being welcomed into Government House.

Guests heard from the His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Governor of Queensland, who highlighted the crucial work that Foodbank does within the community, across the state and across Australia.

His Excellency paid tribute to our donors and supporters, acknowledging their contributions to Foodbank Queensland.

We would like to thank His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey for their ongoing support and for welcoming Foodbank Queensland and guests into Government House. We would also like to thank all of our donors and supporters, who help us every day as we strive to end hunger in Queensland.

Queensland Cricket Pathways players volunteer at Foodbank Queensland.

It was a busy morning for the young Queensland cricketers who joined us for a morning of volunteering. From unwrapping milk and unpacking fresh produce to labelling cans, the players did it all.

Of course, the competitive nature of the cricketers came to the fore during the labelling of donated cans of spaghetti from SPC. They were determined to set a new record for the number of cans labelled in an hour.

And what a record! 836 cans of spaghetti, packed and labelled in an hour. Well done team!

North Queensland flood support

The front line services do an amazing job getting people back on their feet immediately after natural disasters. What we do at Foodbank is provide immediate and ongoing support to families in need.

With the support of our donors, some of the items we have been able to send to North Queensland include:

Two pallets of water thanks to Schweppes Asahi
16 pallets of assorted cleaning products and materials thank to TrendPac
Five pallets of eggs thanks to Australian Pasteurized Eggs
Toilet paper
Weetbix and Vitabrits from Sanitarium and Uncle Toby’s
Jam
UHT Milk
Tinned Fruit and vegetables
Baked beans and tinned spaghetti
Bottle water
Pasta and noodles
Ready to eat frozen meals thanks to Foodbank’s collaboration with FareShare

We’re incredibly grateful to our logistics partners Linfox (free rail freight), and AHG (free road freight and storage), without whom we would not be able to transport much needed food relief.

Bulls Cricketer Chris Lynn donates $6,400 on behalf of Queensland Cricket.

Chris Lynn from the QLD Bulls presented Foodbank with a signed bat and a donation of $6,400!

The donation comes from the on-going charity partnership between Foodbank QLD and Queensland Cricket with Queensland Cricket donating $100 to Foodbank for every six that left the stadium during the JLT One-Day Cup and Women’s National Cricket League.

Chris Lynn gains an honourable mention, claiming 27 of the 64 sixes hit during the campaign. Smashing effort from all involved both on the field and in the campaign to raise awareness for food relief in Australia.

Turn your empty containers into a donation and help those in need.

It’s as easy as 1,2,3

Foodbank Queensland is now part of Containers For Change enabling you to turn your recycling into cash donations for Foodbank. Donating is as easy as 1….2….3

Step 1 – Collect eligible containers.

Most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel, and liquid paperboard beverage containers between 150ml and three litres are eligible for a refund when returned to a container refund point. To be eligible the beverage container must:

Have contained a beverage product that is not excluded from the scheme. For example, cordials, and plain milk are not included in the scheme so containers that have held these products are not eligible for a refund
Display the refund mark. This is so that the container refund point operator can see if the container is part of the scheme. Most containers will already have a refund mark for SA and NT and these containers are eligible under Containers for Change. Beverage manufacturers have until 1 December 2019 to display the new refund mark on their containers
Be an approved container. Some containers are made out of materials that cannot be recycled. These containers may not be approved (by the Queensland Government) as an eligible container as the scheme requires that when a refund is paid on a container that container must be recycled.

Step 2 – Find your nearest collection depot

Head to the containers for change website and search for your closest collection depot.

Find your closest depot

Step 3 – Quote the ID to donate

To donate to Foodbank Queensland, simply quote the ID number below in order to make your donation.

ID: C10002907

For every five containers donated, Foodbank can provided a meal to a Queenslander in need.

NRMA Insurance Brisbane Broncos partners with Foodbank Queensland.

To say that Queenslanders are footy mad is an understatement! So you can only imagine our reaction when we were informed that we will be an official charity partner of the NRMA Insurance Brisbane Broncos during the 2019 season.

It’s an exciting opportunity for us as we can engage with a new audience and raise awareness about what we do here at Foodbank Queensland.

The partnership is not only a great opportunity for Foodbank but also a wonderful opportunity to thank our volunteers, without whom we could achieve all that we do.

We’re looking forward to seeing a sea of purple as the Broncos take on the Parramatta Eels on Friday, 30 August. It’s the last home game for the Broncos, so be sure to be out in force cheering on the Broncos as they support Foodbank.

Be sure to follow our social media channels to stay up to date with how you can support Foodbank and the Broncos!