Stanthorpe community helps to provide 60,000 meals to people in need

Foodbank Queensland receives food donations from farmers, manufacturers and retailers all around Queensland. Recently, we had the pleasure of visiting our wonderful food donors in the small rural town of Stanthorpe. 

In Stanthorpe, Foodbank Queensland has eight generous food donors who provide a large variety of nutritious food, including apples, peaches, broccoli, capsicums and eggs to help Queenslanders experiencing hunger. 

Many farmers across Queensland have been impacted by the events of last year, including drought, bushfires and COVID-19.

During our visit, we met with Kirra Pines Farming Managing Director, Tim Carnell, who said coming off a once in a 40-year drought into a once in a 100-year pandemic has been very tough. 

“Not only have we been battling our driest summer in years, COVID-19 has posed new kinds of challenges, with staffing limitations and increased health and safety requirements.” 

“However, despite any challenges we face at Kirra Pines Farming, we are committed to supporting people in need by donating produce that would have gone to waste to Foodbank, to ensure it goes to a good cause,” Tim said. 

On our trip to Stanthorpe, we also met with long-time supporters Bent and Haynes, who have very kindly been donating capsicums and tomatoes to Foodbank for more than 10 years. Sadly, the recent drought meant they struggled to grow any produce in 2020 at all. 

Other food donors in Stanthorpe include P Savio & Co, Zappia Produce Group, Snowman Orchard, Moore eggs, Gillebri Cotton Co (Moonrocks) and Lindsay Transport Stanthorpe.

In 2020, the Stanthorpe community donated enough food to provide 60,000 nutritious meals to Queenslanders going hungry.

Our wonderful food donors help us ensure that our shelves are never empty, and our Member Charities can continue distributing food across Queensland to those who need it most. A big thank you to all of our food donors for your continued generosity.

If you’re in the food industry and are interested in becoming a food donor, please click here.

Foodbank Queensland increases food storage capacity by 28%!

We are excited to announce that Foodbank Queensland’s pallet racking has been upgraded for the first time in 20 years!  

Thanks to the generosity of John T Reid Charitable Trusts, Foodbank Queensland has replaced all existing pallet racking, allowing us to improve our layout, increase food storage capacity and be more efficient and effective. 

Sara Harrup, Foodbank Queensland CEO, said the project has enabled Foodbank Queensland to rescue, store and distribute 28% more food. 

“The support of John T Reid Charitable Trusts has helped us increase the capacity of Foodbank Queensland, welcoming more Member Charities and providing more essential food and groceries to those in need,” Ms Harrup said. 

As the largest hunger relief charity in Queensland, providing food for over 25 million meals each year, Foodbank Queensland is committed to growing and adapting to meet increased state-wide food relief demand.  

When Foodbank Queensland’s Morningside facility opened 20 years ago, one million kilograms of food was sourced and distributed annually. Twenty years later, in the same facility, we are now providing more than 14 million kilograms of essential food and groceries to support Queenslanders facing hardship. 

Foodbank Queensland’s impact has grown year on year as we work tirelessly towards our vision of a Queensland without hunger. Every day, up to 32 trucks full of donated food and groceries arrive at Foodbank Queensland to support Queenslanders in crisis. By creating more spaces for storage, we can now accept and distribute up to 292 additional pallets of food every day.

“There is never enough food. We are a big family and there are a lot of bills to pay.” 

Maria, her three brothers and two sisters recently moved to Australia with their mother. A close-knit family, they were all eager to start a new chapter and leave their difficult life as refugees behind. 

“Before we came to Australia, life was so hard for us. But then we got the chance to come here, and it was like a dream.” – Maria 

Maria’s mother is learning English so she can find work and the children are studying hard, hoping to do well and go on to get good jobs. However, they often find there isn’t enough money to buy food for everyone once the rent and bills are paid. 

That’s why your support is so important. With your generosity, we can help to deliver nutritious food to the homes of families like Maria’s. 

“There are a lot of bills and we don’t have jobs. We are still students. For bills as well as groceries, it’s a lot of money. But once we began getting food parcels, we started to have enough food for everyone. Now once every two weeks, we can have some meat and pantry items.” – Maria 

It’s thanks to the generosity of people like you that we can support communities like Maria’s, making sure our local Member Charities have food to share with families in need.  

“We love the food from Foodbank. We all eat it and it really helps my mum.” – Maria 

Sadly, 22% of Queenslanders experiencing hunger are children. 

With your help, we can help make sure families like Maria’s do not go hungry. Thank you for making a difference.  

Every $1 you donate will provide two nutritious meals to someone facing hunger like Maria. 

Ipswich Foodbarn provides vital support to hungry Queenslanders

Ipswich Foodbarn is one of Foodbank Queensland’s Member Charities providing vital food relief to Queenslanders in crisis. The Ipswich charity is open four days a week and offers affordable food hampers and free fresh fruit and vegetables to people doing tough in the local community. Every week, the incredible team at Ipswich Foodbarn supports over 4,500 Queenslanders experiencing hunger.

Qim Kauwhata, Ipswich Foodbarn Managing Director, said due to increasing demand for food relief, the charity is being forced to turn away more than 150 families every day.

“Since COVID-19, we have seen a surge in the number of people seeking support. We try to source enough food to meet demand, but sadly we are telling more and more people each day that we have run out of food.”

“During the two weeks we were open in December, we saw more people seeking support than in October and November combined, with a huge amount of people hoping to receive assistance before we closed our doors until the new year. On the day we reopened in January, a record number of people came for food relief. Unfortunately, a lot were sent away with no food,” Qim said.

COVID-19 has severely impacted Queensland’s hunger crisis, with one-third of hungry Queenslanders having never experienced hunger before the pandemic. Many charities like Ipswich Foodbarn are continually adapting to new regulations and restrictions to ensure they can continue supporting as many people in crisis as possible.

Prior to the pandemic, Queenslanders in need were able to walk into Ipswich Foodbarn and select their own food and groceries. However, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, Ipswich Foodbarn now operates as a ‘drive-through’, where volunteers place pre-packed food relief hampers into cars. Many days there are so many cars lined up that the charity needs to direct traffic.

Ipswich Foodbarn is also one of the few food relief charities that accept Centrepay, which allows people to pay for their food hampers as a deduction from their Centrelink payment.

Foodbank Queensland is proud to have been providing essential food and groceries to Ipswich Foodbarn since 2012. Qim said the charity relies on Foodbank Queensland for 75% of their food.

“Without the help of Foodbank Queensland, we would not have been able to continue to feed the multitudes in Ipswich and surrounding areas,” Qim said.

If you are a Queensland charity, Foodbank Queensland membership is a great way to support your food relief projects, offering your organisation a reliable source of food and groceries all year round.

If you are in a position to help Foodbank Queensland provide more food across the state to support Queenslanders in need, please consider joining the fight against hunger as a regular giver.

Being out of work has put Tony and his family in a desperate situation

“I never thought in a million years that I would be in the position I am now. We try and do everything we possibly can, but some days we literally run out of money.” – Tony

Tony was an active, hard-working family man until a beach accident left him unable to work for six months. He recovered well and was about to go back to his job when an out-of-control motorist ran into his car. With another set of debilitating injuries, Tony found himself in an even worse situation than before.

At the time, Tony was working for a catering company that serviced Brisbane airport. So, when the pandemic hit and his worker’s compensation ran out, there was no way for his employers to keep him on.

“I’ve pawned all my tools and used our savings to try and get by, but for a couple of weeks we were pretty much just living on bread and water – I didn’t know what to do or where to turn.” – Tony

Desperate to put food on his family’s table, Tony came across one of Foodbank Queensland’s local Member Charities. Because he can no longer drive, the charity delivers hampers of nutritious food to his home.

“It’s the highlight of our week knowing there’ll be fresh fruit and veg, bread, and dried foods like pasta and rice. Without this help we would not have made it this far. I take my hat off to Foodbank and the people who donate – it makes all the difference to us as a family.” – Tony

With so many livelihoods lost to COVID-19, too many families like Tony’s all over Queensland are doing it tough right now. Sadly, 1 in 3 Queenslanders facing a hunger crisis had never gone hungry before the pandemic.

With your support, we can make sure our local member charities have enough food to share with families in need, helping them to maintain a healthy, balanced diet.

Your generosity will make sure that families like Tony’s do not go hungry. Thank you for making a difference.

Every $1 you donate will provide two nutritious meals to someone facing hunger like Tony.