We understand that walking into Foodbank for the first time can feel overwhelming – for a customer, especially a new customer, it can be filled with uncertainty, shame and fear of judgement. It’s a very vulnerable moment that takes immense courage and strength.

Often, a customer’s first interaction when they arrive is with a volunteer, not a paid member of staff, and it’s a job that all of our volunteers on the front-line treat seriously with compassion, kindness and patience. 

Sam has been a volunteer with Foodbank WA since the beginning of the year and seeing the energy that sparkles behind every smile, you can see why she is so popular with customers old and new.

Sam is between jobs in Administration and Customer Service, and after getting to chat to some of the volunteers when she would bring her mum in for her weekly shop at Foodbank, she thought she would try her hand at joining our amazing and diverse team of volunteers. Initially Sam was in one day, then two then three and now, sometimes five days – depending on how busy the Perth branch is.

Sam says that volunteering at Foodbank is a deeply rewarding experience that goes beyond simply giving her time. It offers her chance to make a real difference to the lives of people who are facing hunger and often, a myriad of other issues. 

“Each shift brings me a sense of purpose, knowing my efforts help provide meals to those in need. Volunteering at Foodbank brings me a sense of empathy, gratitude, and a stronger connection to my community. It’s inspiring to work alongside passionate volunteers and staff, all united by a common goal of helping others.” Sam continued.

Being in a front-line position and dealing with vulnerable and stressed individuals certainly takes skill and heart in equal measure.

“As a volunteer, I see how Foodbank as a lifeline to countless families doing it tough. The service it provides goes far beyond food – it offers dignity, hope and stability during difficult times. Every shift I do I witness the incredible impact the organisation makes, not just filling pantries but building stronger communities. I’m proud to contribute to that.”  

Something simple such as greeting a customer by their first name or simply asking ‘how are you today’ has the power to improve someone’s day. A volunteer’s smile may be the only smile that person gets that day. We (the volunteers) are all conscious of that and want to create a positive experience where we can.

“The gratitude expressed by our customers is often the most impactful part of my day. I am happy I can make even a small positive difference to someone’s life. I take pride in knowing that I can help a customer feel comfortable and not judged when they come here. In giving your time, you receive something invaluable in return – a renewed perspective and the fulfillment that comes from helping others in a meaningful and often life-changing way. It makes me value what I have.” Sam said.

Volunteers bring immeasurable benefits to our organisation, allowing us to expand services, reach more people and achieve our mission to Feed Educate and Advocate, without the financial burden of hiring additional staff. Each volunteer brings a new and fresh perspective, which both cultivates and encourages innovation and community engagement.

Ultimately, the true value of volunteers lies not only in the work that they do but in the spirit of generosity and shared purpose they bring – turning collective goodwill into meaningful action and lasting change.

A heartfelt thank you all of our volunteers past and present. We thank you for weaving kindness hope and heart into everything you do in our community. 

According to statistics from Allianz Partners, 74% of students are experiencing financial pressure and are increasingly facing shortages of fresh, healthy and nutritious food as they battle ongoing food insecurity due to the cost-of-living crisis.

To combat this growing crisis, Allianz Partners partnered with Foodbank Australia, the nation’s largest food relief organisation, to tackle this issue country-wide.

In July last year, Allianz Partners and Foodbank Australia launched the first international student food market at UNSW, one of eight activations at university campuses across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The partnership provides essential food supplies and raises awareness about the diverse faces of food insecurity.  

The first university food market day in WA was held at Murdoch University in mid-April and assisted almost 600 students. More than 4000 kilos of fruit, vegetables and nonperishables were distributed on the day. 

Foodbank WA experienced a 15% increase in customers in the last quarter compared to the same time last year – households are struggling, and it is no different for international students studying here, many of who are a long way from home and their support networks.

Back in February we were happy to receive a very kind donation of linen that was donated by BHP Western Australia and Compass Group AUS. 

This amazing donation of linen meant that we could offer over 74 of our agency partners great linen packs that certainly don’t come around often! With the help of Jason Windows who supplied the packaging and created a rotating roster of 2-hour shifts of their staff who packaged up all of the linen - an incredible total of 3,344 packs that have now been distributed to our agencies all over WA.

Fresh linen can make a profound difference in the life of someone who has none. For people experiencing homelessness or living in poverty, access to clean bedding is often a luxury out of reach. Sleeping on the bare ground or using worn-out fabrics or sometimes even soiled fabrics can lead to discomfort, poor hygiene, and even health issues. Fresh linen offers not just physical relief, but emotional comfort as well. It provides a sense of dignity, warmth, and normalcy – small things that many take for granted but are deeply meaningful to those without them.

We were so delighted to hear that the Perth Integrated Health Group, through its Communities Team and in conjunction with the NDIS, were able to distribute the linen to their clients, especially in the lead up to cooler days and nights. The feedback we have received has been very positive with recipients expressing their heartfelt thanks and appreciation. We have heard a number of amazing comments such as how soft and usable the products are to their daily lives.  

To help support this additional need across community, we are looking to see how we can better support agencies by building capacity across the food relief network in Western Australia. This has including reviewing our operations and services.

The Foodbank Agency Pantry will give you, our partners, access to a range of in-demand pantry products at a reduced cost, helping you to get more from sometimes very limited budgets, to help support your own food relief services.    

Currently the Foodbank Agency Pantry program has 29 products which include staples such as peanut butter, plain and self-raising flour, oats, tuna in spring water, a variety of canned vegetables SPC Spaghetti and baked beans, penne pasta and long-life milk, just to name a few.

These products are now available to purchase in bulk with reduced pricing, usually 10-20% under the recommended retail price, and where possible, many are below our in-branch pricing.

Orders can be placed weekly using an order form available by contacting Candice.

Pricing is excluding delivery, but we have several different options, including a click and collect model, which we can discuss with you.  

Earlier this year we sent out an expression of interest where we looked to understand which of the 29 products in our core range you found were essential and also listed a range of non-core products, which has previously been requested by some agencies. 

In 2026, we hope to extend the Foodbank Agency Pantry range, with consideration of your feedback, and hope to increase the range of 29 core products to many more, which will be available via the Foodbank Agency Pantry ordering process.

We want to thank those of you who responded, your feedback will help us to understand your interest and support.

We are currently reviewing your responses and hope to report back to you with our findings and recommendations in our next newsletter.

In the meantime, if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact candice.long@foodbankwa.org.au.  

In August last year we recognised the urgent need for the provision of healthy fruit and vegetables for Western Australian and moved to provide our customers with fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Our free fruit and vegetable initiative has been hugely popular and successful but has meant that to keep up with demand, we have had to explore avenues we have not been able to explore previously – whether that be due to the high cost of transport or small budgets internally – we now have dedicated staff members for food sourcing to keep up with demand.  

So it was very exciting to be invited to attend the annual Carnarvon Growers Association (CGA) field day, as we are currently not working the growers in Carnarvon region.

The weekend was full of fun, and a great opportunity to meet and greet the growers. There were many interesting presentations which talked about focusing on costs and improving the methods of production, distribution, transportation, and marketing of horticultural products, and so much more. It was also interesting to learn that Carnarvon produces 80 percent of Western Australia Fruit and Vegetables is just incredible. Such a valuable part of Australia! 

Just a few of the benefits of an affordable healthy diet include improved education outcomes for children, reduced future health costs and reduced social inequality. 

In 2024 Foodbank WA provided 1,273,375 kgs of fruit and vegetables fruit and vegetables to our charity partners, schools and directly to households. This equates to 37% of our overall food distribution total. 

For our agencies and customers, free fruit and vegetables mean that people no longer have to worry about the affordability of buying healthy food which is a key factor in people’s food choices.

The Emergency Relief & Food Assistance Hotline 1800 979 777 is open Monday to Friday 9.00am -5.00pm and is the easiest and quickest way to secure a referral to shop at Foodbank. 

In the same time period, we provided breakfast and fruit to over 560 schools feeding almost 25,600 children weekly and delivered nutrition education to 6,577 attendees including to children, people with disability, parents and adults. 

Our Hunger Report published in 2024 revealed that more than 370,000 households experienced food insecurity last financial year. Close to 200,000 households experienced severe food insecurity the last financial year with 1 in 5 people facing days of no food.

They are all very big numbers.

Here are some interesting facts and big stats about Foodbank you may not know: