A Message from Greg Pattinson, CEO, Foodbank SA

The last 6 months have clearly demonstrated the essential role of Foodbank SA in the community. Firstly with the bushfires, Foodbank was one of the first agencies activated by the State Government to provide support to affected communities. To this day, we still send our Mobile Food Hub to Lobethal twice per week to support the victims of the Hills fires. However since the outbreak of COVID-19, this service is now available for other families in the area who need food assistance.

Immediately following the bushfires, we saw the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many thousands of people lost their jobs overnight, many of whom had never been in such a position. At the same time, many traditional welfare agencies and charities closed their doors either due to a lack of volunteers or to eliminate any risk of the spread of the virus. With more people needing help but fewer outlets to get food, all of us at Foodbank set ourselves the objective that we would not close, but would continue to provide the safety net for the people of SA.

To achieve this objective, many changes were necessary to our previously normal way of doing things. I would like to thank all of our staff and volunteers who not only worked with the management team to make sure all of our sites were safe, but who also continued to provide a welcoming environment for all of the new people accessing our services.

Even with all of these challenges, we are still driving new projects. We have just launched our second Mobile Food Hub, sponsored by the RAA, and based at our Riverland branch, which will be used to fill some of the gaps for food relief in country areas of SA. Then in September we will be opening the doors of our latest Food Hub, this time in Murray Bridge. This opening will be supported by local Rotary & Lions clubs and has attracted a lot of local interest in what we believe is a region that needs this service.

With all of this happening, I have never been prouder to be associated with Foodbank!

Greg Pattinson
CEO, Foodbank SA

 

 

PAFC provide contactless food relief delivery for Foodbank SA

Due to COVID-19, this year Foodbank SA needed to adapt to the changing face of hunger. Not only did the number of people requiring food relief service grow exponentially, but due to isolation and restrictions we were also faced with the inability to get food to those who needed it the most.  Foodbank had to adapt our traditional models of food relief support to include a Home Hamper Delivery Program.

We were lucky that the Port Adelaide Football players and staff were able to lend a hand with a Foodbank contactless delivery service.

We were super impressed with the genuine willingness to offer support during this time, with even KT, Dave Hutton and the GOAT, Russell Ebert making weekly deliveries for the last few months.

On behalf of Foodbank SA and those we support every day, thank you PAFC!

A Word from Gerry

Thank you. Your unwavering support through the most challenging time in Foodbank’s history has eased the pain and distress of countless hungry Australians. There are no words that can truly express my gratitude.

Foodbank has supported Australians in need through the generous support of people like you.

The sheer scale of the COVID-19 crisis has been heart-wrenching, and Foodbank will be relied upon to assist families in putting food on the table for years while they recover.

Not so long ago, hunger was a hidden crisis, affecting 1 in 5 Australians. Today, as we emerge from the bushfires and COVID-19, this statistic is now 2 in 5 people.

That’s 50% more families living day to day, skipping meals. Feeling daily stress, grief and guilt as their children go to school with rumbling tummies and empty lunch boxes.

I am mindful that this crisis has affected many of our supporters personally. If you are struggling to put meals on the table, please reach out to us.

The overwhelming generosity of the community assisted us to source food and employ emergency labour to create and deliver 9,800 hampers, a simply extraordinary number of food relief parcels.

Your support of Foodbank has brought hope to families like Kylie’s – a family already doing it tough, but hit so hard by our recent crisis that she was constantly in tears as she could not feed her children.

“This food will help our family 1000% for the next few weeks. It means we will be able to get by and we’re not going to be struggling,” said Kylie.

Your kind heart has ensured people like Jay, who lost her job in the beauty industry, had food to put on the table. Jay’s story is of an overnight transformation. She was privately renting with no money worries, and then suddenly had no income, no money – having to live with friends or in emergency accommodation.

Jay’s story is sadly one that has been played out around the country right now. People who never imagined they would ever have to come to Foodbank for help, suddenly thrown into a desperate situation.

It’s a story that Charity Partners like Mama Lana’s and Hawkesbury Helping Hands see every day. Linda Strickland, Founder of Hawkesbury Helping Hands, says “most of the stories are heartbreaking and many days I can hardly hold it together… but we need to get the food out, and we need to get it out very, very quickly because people are starving in our community.”

Right across Australia, so many people are struggling. Often these are people who have been victims of devastation just as they were trying to help others – people like Phillip, one of the firemen on the front line in the community of Kiah, trying to save homes in the bushfire crisis. Phillip lost his own home, and only just escaped with his life.

“We need help here,” says Phillip. “Recovery is going to take a long time. We need to let people know we still need assistance here. It’s going to take years to rebuild.”

As COVID-19 restrictions ease further and we adapt to our new normal, I am witnessing the return of hope – for new jobs, a boost to our economy and re-connection. But for some, there is little hope right now. Your gift will support Australians who have lost homes, jobs and their loved ones to get back on their feet.

On behalf of the many thousands of Australians who are going hungry right now, I’d like to say a very special thank you for your ongoing support. Every dollar you give makes a difference.

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Boroondara Community Outreach

Based in Kew in Melbourne’s east, Boroondara Community Outreach offer food relief, support and services for disadvantaged members of the Borondoora community. During COVID-19, the team have been making hundreds of take away meals each week, and delivering these direct to the community along with emergency relief products such as non perishable groceries and toiletries.

Meet our Charity Partners

YOUR KINDNESS IS SUPPORTING THE BUSHFIRE RECOVERY

 

On behalf of the community of Kiah – and so many other communities across NSW and ACT – thank you for your wonderful support throughout the bushfire crisis earlier this year.

Phillip Novak was one of the RFS fire fighters on the front line in the NSW South Coast town of Kiah, trying to save homes and lives. Like far too many Australians caught up in this summer’s devasting fires Phillip lost his own home, and only just escaped with his life.

“In just half a minute, the structures I was protecting were enveloped in flames. It was a tempest of just unimaginable proportions,” said Phillip.

Bushfire recovery

The day after the fire took his home, Phillip had help from Foodbank. “It was just chaos. Smoke was still in the air and we were just reaching out to get basic assistance. The food pantry at Merimbula was the first place that helped us,” he said.

As you would expect the road to recovery for these communities will be long. Communities just like Kiah are reliant on continuing food relief and families like Phillip’s still benefit from your kindness. In March alone, 473,000 kilos of food and groceries were delivered to bushfire affected areas.

As Phillip explains, “We’re all having difficulty with just day to day living – we’ve lost the things that make a home.

“Simple things like receiving food is an important part of rebuilding our lives.”

THANK YOU FOR HELPING FEED KYLIE’S FAMILY

“When you’re fighting between paying rent or buying food, you don’t know what to do.”

When we last wrote to you, Kylie and her young children, like so many thousands of other Australian families, had reached breaking point.

Thanks to your generous support, Foodbank has stepped in to relieve their distress and hunger.

Without you, Kylie and her kids would have gone hungry.

For Kylie, not being able to feed her own children was heart-breaking. “You have to send your kids to school with food. You can’t send them with nothing.

“A neighbour told me about the Foodbank charity partner pantry. They were the most welcoming bunch of ladies, able to help us when we needed it.

“I was blown away with the generosity, and what we’ve received with everyone’s help.

“To go home with this food… it means I don’t have to sit and cry about not having any money or food. We can now eat – and that’s the most important thing to me, for my kids.”

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INCONCEIVABLE IMPACT – AND A DESPERATE NEED

Supporting communities after the devastating bushfires was always going to be a challenge. But when COVID-19 hit, the challenge was more than doubled.

“We have witnessed a 50% increase in demand for food relief, while simultaneously our volunteer work force was more than halved overnight. At least 25% of our charity partners closed down,” said CEO Gerry Andersen.

“We now face the future with 2 in 5 people experiencing food insecurity – a shocking toll caused by recent events.

“Meeting need is always a complex process. We need to know that our response will pass the test of time to get through not only the crisis phase, but also the lengthy recovery phase.”

The future is uncertain. But what we know for sure is that bushfire affected communities will need support for many months to come. Foodbank is committed to helping vulnerable Australians in need, and we are so grateful for your support.

Thanks to your kindness Foodbank can be to help hungry Australians.

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WE ASKED, YOU RESPONDED – THANK YOU

We were overwhelmed by your incredible response to our appeal in the aftermath of COVID-19.

In the space of one week, Foodbank received a 50% increase in demand for food relief. Prior to this, thousands of people were already missing out – we did not have enough for more than 373,000 people in NSW and ACT who needed urgent hunger relief. Now we are facing a whole new hunger crisis on an unprecedented scale.

Our first action in the response plan was to escalate the sourcing, packing and delivering food hampers to unprecedented levels. To achieve this, we needed to source more food urgently, as panic buying had stripped shelves bare. We also had to employ emergency labour, as our volunteer workforce was significantly impacted by COVID-19. The people we could normally call upon were unavailable – working from home, laid off or in isolation.

Thanks to you, in a short space of time, we have been able to help so many Australians. We have packed and distributed 9,800 hampers – that’s around 118 tonnes of product.

Foodbank will continue to pack hampers to meet demand, and for as long as is needed. This is an ongoing crisis with an uncertain future.

We are so grateful for your continued support in putting food on the table for hungry Australians.

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COVID-19 UPDATE

THE LONG ROAD AHEAD

Even though restrictions have eased, the COVID-19 nightmare continues for many people impacted by job losses and increased hardship. Australia is now in its first recession in 29 years. The staggering 50% increase in demand for food relief in recent months does not seem likely to decline any time soon.

Charity Partner Lana Borg from Mama Lana’s says that currently between 80 to 100 people seek their help each night. Linda Strickland of Hawkesbury Helping Hands has witnessed a leap from 300-400 to over 2,000 people a week at their centre for food relief. “The Salvation Army came from Katoomba to pick up food; 90% of the guys up there have lost their jobs. Most of the stories are heart breaking and many days I can hardly hold it together.” she said.

Paul joined Foodbank as a volunteer after losing his corporate job because he wanted to have ‘a purpose’. He confided that after giving his time at Foodbank and witnessing the scale of the food relief operation that “the number of people that need this type of help is frightening.”

“Foodbank has been involved in disaster response and recovery for decades; cyclones, floods and, of course, the unprecedented bushfires last summer. We know recovery takes months, even years,” said CEO Gerry Andersen.

Thanks to your support, Foodbank can be there for the thousands of Australians who continue to need our help. Thank you.

COVID-19 Stories

We asked, you responded – thank you

 

Inconceivable impact and a desperate need

 

Thank you for helping feed Kylie’s family