West Coast Eagles Million Meal Challenge 

The West Coast Eagles Million Meal Challenge which took place on Saturday, 3 May at Optus Stadium where the Eagles played against the Melbourne Demons. The Round 8 game aimed to raise $100,000 which would see the campaign reach its goal of providing a million meals to those who need it the most.

This year, we were very lucky to partner with The McCusker Charitable Foundation to help us reach our ambitious goal of One Million Meals.

In an extraordinary act of generosity, The McCusker Charitable Foundation announced that they would be doubling all donations made to this year’s campaign. This meant that for every dollar donated, The McCusker Charitable Foundation would contribute an additional two dollars. For example, a $100 donation would become a total of $300.

With the incredible support of the West Coast Eagles and the McCusker Charitable Foundation, an incredible $114,145 was raised which equates to more than an eye popping 228,000 meals, helping us to reach our goal of providing a million meals to Western Australians struggling to make ends meet.

Thank you West Coast Eagles and The McCusker Charitable Foundation for helping to raise awareness about food insecurity and to bring us over the million-dollar mark to help fight hunger in Western Australia. od insecurity and to bring us over the million-dollar mark to help fight hunger in Western Australia. We had just over 70 volunteers who collectively put in a huge 186 hours to bring this event to life. Thank you to everyone involved. 

For the second year, Alcoa matched fan donations dollar for dollar – doubling the community’s impact and providing essential groceries to individuals and families struggling with the rising cost of living.

With Alcoa’s support, an incredible $25,500 was raised which equates to 51,000 meals. These funds will go directly to the Peel branch to provide more food and groceries to those who struggle to afford them.

Thank you Alcoa, this critical source of funds means we can provide food relief in a way that is dignified and easily accessible.

Thank you also to our 24 volunteers and staff who helped to make this event possible.

Every event gives us the chance to raise vital funds and spread the word about how we’re helping Western Australians doing it tough right across our state.

Our Community Kitchen has now made and distributed more than half a million meals, an incredible achievement. 

Our Community Kitchen is a model of efficiency, relying on donations of food from supermarkets, farmers, and food manufacturers. This not only helps reduce food waste but also ensures that the meals produced are cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.

Together with an army of volunteers, Chef Grant and many, many kind-hearted volunteers have managed to turn donated, surplus food which would otherwise end up in landfill into half a million ready-to-eat meals.

Each week Chef Grant is dealt the ultimate mystery box challenge, or in his case, mystery pallet. It’s hard to imagine but this means that Chef Grant does not know exactly what he will be cooking each week and with what ingredients until sometimes the Monday morning he starts! Each meal is dependent on what is donated, so while he may plan to cook a traditional bangers and mash meal, it will likely have a twist – such an extra special mushroom sauce (if we get an unexpected delivery mushrooms) or to make his lasagne Mexican – because we have a big donation of nutritious canned beans. 

For nine years now, Chef Grant has coordinated teams of up to six to twelve volunteers daily. Together they prep, cook and package their meals ready to be frozen on a weekly basis so that they are ready for distribution the following week. The meals are distributed through our six distribution branches in Perth, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Peel, Bunbury and Albany. They can be obtained in the branches or are made available from our charity partners which range from supporting the elderly who need easy no fuss meals to domestic violence victims who may need a meal in the middle of the night quickly or someone going through serious illness who does not have the energy to cook. The list is endless. 

Regional WA is also more prone to supply chain disruptions due to its remoteness. Delays or shortages in transport can increase the price of food, especially fresh items with a shorter shelf life.

We don’t know where we would be without our branch partners, whose support means mean can deliver more fresh fruit and vegetables, our Everyday Food Essentials range and even nom! our nutrition education offering, where demand requires it.

Our Hunger Report for 2024 shows that in a state as fortunate as Western Australia, 370,000 households experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months with close to 200,000 households experiencing severe food insecurity in the same time frame with 1 in 5 people facing days of no food. That is not acceptable, and we must do better.

In Geraldton, Iluka’s support over the last three years has meant that we have been able to keep up with the growing demand the branch is seeing with both food assistance and nutrition education. Since July this year alone, we have seen an increase of almost 20% in households seeking food assistance.

A range of nutrition educations sessions have been delivered within the Greater Geraldton area with our nom! Schools and nom! programs thanks to Iluka, reaching more than 100 participants. These programs teach important life skills and how to eat healthy, gain confidence in the kitchen and make healthy food choices for life.

Iluka volunteer in our Perth branch, doing anything from helping out in the Community Kitchen preparing, cooking and freezing meals to packing hampers for distribution. Theres nothing they can’t do!

The 2023 Regional Price Index (RPI) results show that, overall, prices are more expensive than Perth in all regions, with prices highest in the Pilbara region, followed by the Kimberley and Gascoyne.

The results showed that our regional towns were more expensive in the majority of commodity groups measured such as food, clothing, housing, household equipment and operation and health and personal care, It’s no wonder that our regional towns need us more than ever.

When we venture South to our Bunbury Branch, the increase in households seeking food assistance in the same time period is very similar with a 19% spike. The cost-of-living crisis is impacting families so drastically that in Bunbury, to support those doing it the toughest, we provided 15,000 kilos of food for free during the month of October.

Thanks to our amazing Branch Sponsors South 32 who have partnered with us for three years now, we can meet the demand for food relief in Bunbury. We expanded our Mobile Foodbank to visit 15 communities in and around the Bunbury area. This means we can get more food to more people and lessen the burden for those who cannot afford the fuel to travel to the branch itself.

We are so thankful for regional branch partnerships. Without them we simply could not deliver enough food relief to meet growing demand around our state. Ongoing support means that we are building healthier, more resilient communities, and that they can count on us, nobody is going to be left behind.

Thanks to our partnership with the Craig Mostyn Group, our customers have had access to excellent quality meat from their Linley Valley Pork range of products, and are able to create balanced, nutritious meals without having to cut back or ration the all – important protein in their diets.

We are so excited that the Craig Mostyn Group has expanded their partnership with us to include red meat donations which is great news for our customers looking to try and include more red meat in their diet.

The Craig Mostyn Group has been working with us since 2023 providing weekly donations of their Linley Valley Pork range and now, through their division in Bunbury V&V Walsh, will be providing weekly donations of Amelia Park lamb shanks, lamb chops, lamb roasts and beef burgers. 

“We couldn’t be more pleased that the Craig Mostyn Group have added red meat to their regular donations to us. It’s not uncommon to hear from new customers that they have gone for months without eating meat due to the expense. We want to be able to offer our customers as much variety as possible, and with partnerships such as this, we can.” said Kate O’Hara, Foodbank WA CEO.

This will be a valuable addition to our product offering, providing more meal options for our customers while also allowing them to include affordable sources of valuable iron and nutrients into their diets. 

“We know there are many in WA going without because of cost-of-living pressures. As an agrifood company, this is our way of being able to provide real, tangible help by donating protein options for families to bring into their weekly meals,”said Paula Dennis, Group Manager, Marketing of Craig Mostyn Group.“We proudly support Foodbank and the great work they do for people in the WA community who need it most”.   

The Craig Mostyn Group is one of Australia’s leading diversified food and agribusiness companies servicing customers and suppliers both here in Australia and overseas.