Three School Breakfast Clubs and much more!

Manor Lakes is a suburb in Melbourne, 33km south-west of Melbourne’s Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area with a population of 12,675.

Manor Lakes P-12 College opened in 2009 and is built on a large site, combining Primary and Secondary schools and including a Supported Learning Centre. There are around 3,000 students enrolled at the school, split evenly between Primary and Secondary.

The College is committed to improving learning outcomes and pathways for their students and is committed to the ongoing creation of a community of responsible learners who have a belief in their ability to learn and succeed.

The School Breakfast Clubs Program has become an important part of achieving these commitments, providing students with healthy food to support better learning outcomes and a sense of community with the provision of Home Food Pack Hampers for families in the school community.

Breakfast Clubs catering to different audiences

The sheer size of Manor Lakes College provides the unique challenge of catering to different school sectors with specific requirements. Bec Collins, Community Connections Manager said, “We need to accommodate the different needs of each area of the school. The Primary School Breakfast is served at a window and only offers grab and go items and the Secondary program is in our community centre with a combination of grab and go and other make-yourself and self-serve items. Our supported learning centre breakfast is set in a kitchen where the students have more autonomy to choose foods, preparing the food themselves in the kitchen.”

Manor Lakes wants to ensure that the Breakfast Program is not just providing food to students, but also provides a sense of community within the school. To achieve this the College invited the local Community Police to attend a Primary School Breakfast Club, with the objective to build the relationship with the students and their local police patrol. The kids loved meeting the Police up-close, and in such a positive environment.

Hamper Project run by the kids

The Manor Lakes school community is always top of mind for Bec Collins. When a Supported Learning class was looking for a volunteering project to complete a school assignment, Bec had the solution! The class could not find the right project within the community, so they decided to take control of planning, developing and delivering Home Food Pack Hampers for the school community.

“We gave the kids full control of the Hampers,” said Bec. “They had to plan how to manage the project, order the food, pack the Hampers, develop marketing material to tell the school about the free Hampers and finally deliver the Hampers directly to the families.”

The Hamper project, which the class called Helping Hampers, provided the class with a myriad of learning opportunities, including:

Planning
Creating a name for the project
Mathematical order projections
Marketing collateral copy writing
Marketing collateral design (posters, flyers, Facebook posts)
Group work when packing the Hampers, determining roles
Recipe card development
Quality control
Delivery coordination (location, setup and rostering)
Communication skills directly with families.

The class project was very successful, providing around 250 Hampers to families in need from the school community. The school families loved receiving the free Hampers and are hoping the class will run the project again. The families also loved the recipe cards that the class put into the boxes, giving them ideas on how to use the food provided. Well done Manor Lakes!

Feedback from the school community

Parents:

“It’s a great place for my son to make friends with other children who aren’t in his class.”

“If my daughter is running late in the morning, it’s great to know she can grab breakfast at school.”

“Sometimes things at home are really tight for food, and this takes the pressure off at times.”

Students:

“We love the toast and milk!”

“I love coming and getting breakfast with my friends.”

“I love vegemite toast, it’s my favourite.”

“I don’t have time at home to have breakfast, so it’s good to be able to eat when I get here.”

“I get to school really early and I like to have something to eat.”

“This year, Christmas is a luxury we can’t afford” – Melita.

Melita vowed to give her kids everything she never had, after having a terrible start to life when she was abandoned by her own mother as a young girl and lived a life of abuse and neglect.

But with ever-increasing costs and doing it all on her own, things are just too tough. And it’s not like she isn’t giving it her best.

Melita is a go getter. She is always trying to make life better for her kids. She wants to set a good example for them and break the terrible cycle of abuse and poverty that she’s experienced. But with prices sometimes doubling for things we all consider ‘the basics’ she’s struggling.

Every day, the hardest part of that struggle is not being able to put enough food on the table for her children.

“I cried in the supermarket and hid my face in the packets of flour… thinking ‘please don’t recognise me’ because I couldn’t , no matter how much I tried, adjust my budget. I couldn’t get everything we needed,” Melita, Foodbank Recipient.

This Christmas will be particularly tough for Melita. She is already dreading what most would consider a special day.

There’ll be no gifts for her kids – that’s a given. But there will also be no fancy lunch. No chocolates or lollies in the stockings. No treats at all – just the basics to get them through.

Thousands of mums, just like Melita, are questioning whether to celebrate at all – because they simply can’t afford to.

Christmas shouldn’t be considered a luxury people simply can’t afford. Sadly, so many families are thinking this way with just weeks until the big day.

Of course, like all loving parents, Melita tries to keep the struggles of filling the pantry away from her kids. She doesn’t want them to have the same worries that she has – but her daughter Madison has started to notice.

“I can pick up what’s going on… I realise ‘Oh, mum seems really stressed out today.’ It breaks my heart because I know she’d do anything for us,” Madison, Melita’s daughter.

It’s hard to even imagine the stress of mums like Melita, trying to figure out how to keep their kids’ tummies full. Melita’s son Luke has less than fond memories of some of the meals she has rustled up in the past.

Potato mash for a week straight wasn’t particularly popular. Pasta dishes with no sauce weren’t a favourite either. But they know that their mum, just like thousands of other mums and dads throughout Victoria, is doing the best she can.

With Foodbank by her side, Melita is working hard to make life better for her and her kids. She has already completed her Diploma of Community Services and is again looking for work. With support from people like you, Melita has been able to access food – without judgement, and more importantly, without that knot in her stomach wondering how she will feed her kids. She can focus on moving forward and not being stuck in a rut.

“That’s why I like the Foodbank trucks so much because you don’t have that stigma attached to it. It feels more like a community get-together,” Melita said.

Be an angel at the table this Christmas

Not just another ‘blokes on a bikes’ gig!

When Foodbank held its first Hunger Ride in 2018, the organisation was feeding 140,000 Victorians a month. Cue the pandemic, bushfires, floods, and the worst cost of living crisis in two decades and it’s now feeding 100,000 every two days.

That’s why Tour de France yellow jersey winner Simon Gerrans is set to lead 27 cyclists on the ride of their lives up Mt Buffalo on November 19 to help raise urgently needed funds for food relief.

Gerrans, along with SBS Tour de France commentator Matt Keenan, and executives from big-hearted Victorian businesses, has been motivated by what’s happening in this state.

“You don’t ride 184 kms with 21kms of that grinding up Mt Buffalo unless you’ve got a fire in your belly,” says Gerrans. “When 365,000 Victorian kids are living in homes where there’s not enough food, those kms aren’t so tough knowing you’re raising money to feed them.”

Foodbank CEO Dave McNamara knows the riders are feeling a heightened sense of urgency. “Victorians are going through such a tough time, and having these businesses pushing themselves on their behalf, is going to help expand our capacity to relieve some of that pressure. They’re inspirational, really.”

Major sponsor Bennelong Funds Management is involved once again with global CEO Craig Bingham more passionate than ever about why the ride is not just another date in the calendar. Bingham, who is also the Chair of Cycling Australia, has been hands on from the start, working with Foodbank on every aspect from planning to saddling up for the gruelling event course.

“Foodbank has set a challenge for the seven teams to raise 32,000 meals each” explains Bingham. “We know their colleagues are right behind them, but any extra help from the wider community is going to pump up the volume Foodbank can deliver. If every cyclist in Victoria donated just $1 to any of our riders, we’d raise over four million meals for people in need…which would be incredible.”

SUPPORT THE HUNGER RIDE

Check out the highlights from The Hunger Ride in March 2022 below!

Millions of households struggling to put food on the table

Monday 17th October 2022, SYDNEY: On any given day, over half a million households in Australia are struggling to put food on the table, and disturbingly, those with children are being hardest hit.

Released today, the Foodbank Hunger Report 2022 reveals alarming details surrounding the food insecurity crisis the country is facing.

More than 2 million households in Australia have run out of food in the last year due to limited finances, sometimes skipping meals or going whole days without eating. This has meant that 1.3 million children lived in food insecure households during that time.

Unsurprisingly, the rising cost of living is the most common reason why so many are struggling to meet their household food needs, with the cost of food and groceries confirmed as the top cause followed closely by energy and housing costs.

Assumptions that this is affecting only those who are unemployed or homeless are incorrect with the research showing that over half of food insecure households had someone in paid work and a third of households with mortgages have experienced food insecurity.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, has witnessed the rise in demand for food relief services over the past year, but even she was shocked by the troubling picture of today’s Australia exposed in the report.

“We know how important it is for people to have access to nutritious food, yet the rising costs of energy, fuel, groceries, rent and mortgages have put this fundamental need beyond the reach of more and more people with no respite in sight,” said Ms Casey.

“These results should make everyone stop in their tracks. The numbers being reported are massive and hard to process, but they represent the harsh reality of living week to week when the cost-of-living crisis collides with an income crisis and the household budget now lists food as a discretionary spend,” said Ms Casey.

The report signals that the problem is only set to get worse with half of all households experiencing difficulty saying that being unable to afford food is happening more often.

The food relief charity is hoping that next week’s Budget will deliver positive change.

“We have heard the Treasurer caution that the October budget is not the time for new spending measures to deliver relief to struggling families, but with more than a million people a month already seeking food relief, if not now, then when?”

KEY STATISTICS

On any given day, over half a million households in Australia are struggling to meet their food needs.
Households with children are being hit harder than others (32% severely food insecure in the past year vs a national average of 21%) and single parent households are the worst of all (37% severely food insecure).
The rising cost of living is the most common explanation for why people are failing to meet their household food requirements (64% of food insecure households). Unpacking this, the cost of food and groceries is the top cause (49%), followed closely by energy (42%) and housing (33%) costs.
Over half of food insecure households (54%) had someone in paid work.
Nearly a third of households with mortgages (30%) have experienced food insecurity in the last year. The situation is even worse in regional areas (36% vs 27% in metro areas).
On a typical day, 306,000 households are receiving assistance from food relief organisations.

METHODOLOGY

This report presents key findings from the Foodbank Hunger Survey, which was conducted between 11 and 28 July 2022, through an online questionnaire of 4,024 people in Australia aged 18 years or older. The sample was nationally representative by age, gender and location (capital city / rest of state) in each major state, with stratified quotas to ensure all major states have a robust minimum sample size of n=600 or above. The data was weighted to nationally representative proportion of age, gender, state and location (capital city/ rest of state).

The term food insecurity covers a range of experiences – from being uncertain about getting enough food and compromising on nutrition right through to disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

Thornbury Community Church

Welcoming refugee communities

Each year, Refugee Week allows us to share stories and celebrate the incredible support that many of our charity partners provide to migrant and refugee communities. Today, we shine a light on one of our many charity partners who continue to make an incredible impact on those families and individuals navigating their new lives in Australia…

Since 2005, Pastor Paul has been volunteering at the Thornbury Community Church, working to establish a food relief program to complement the range of inclusive and community-oriented programs they offer.

Working out of the community hall adjacent to the church, Paul works with a regular team of 10-15 volunteers to operate the food program on a Wednesday afternoon. Each week, volunteer Shanaz picks up the food from Foodbank in a recently acquired van. The food is then packed into hampers of fresh and staple foods, with close to 200 families being assisted monthly.

“We assist a big variety of people here – refugees, migrants, people with special needs, people on their own, the elderly, students and those experiencing homelessness”

In between working full-time, being a full-time minister and running programs at the church, Paul travels around Melbourne picking up donated furniture and delivering it to newly settled migrant families and households in need.

In addition, the community church also operates a series of activities to both empower people experiencing hardship and provide a sense of community and social inclusion. These programs include fortnightly men’s and women’s groups facilitated by professional counsellors, volunteer nights, community meals and free training and skills workshops.

For Paul, the driving force of the community centre is to provide a welcoming and comforting place where everyone feels safe – regardless of age, gender, religion and ethnicity.

“There is a lot of misery and pain in society. We try to alleviate as much as we can and work to create a genuine, welcoming environment where people feel themselves. They find a family and a sense of belonging here.”

Meet some of the folks you helped this winter

Deb is mum to a fourteen-year-old son with a rare disease and tragically lost her brother and dad within weeks of each other, followed by her nephew and sister the following month.

Her husband left his job to help support Deb during the toughest time of her life leaving the family with no income to cover the costs.

“I was so worried about how I was going to feed my diabetic husband the right food with so little money.”

Thanks to your support, Deb and her family now have regular access to fresh, healthy food through one of our long time charity partners – and life is less of a struggle.

Drive Thru feeds thousands in one day

On Sunday 3 July 2022, we ran two pop-up drive thru services at the Melbourne Wholesale Market in Epping and Chobani’s newly expanded site in Dandenong.

Our incredible partners and volunteers worked all day to get 2,000 hampers of fresh produce and 2,000 hampers with pantry staples into the car boots and back seats of Victorians in need.

“You are all amazing. This is the first time I’ve taken charity and I was in tears when your crew put the boxes in my boot.”

When cute came to Foodbank!

They’re here.

We’re big fans of Tradie, who make Australia’s favourite workwear. So when they offered to create a covetable range of cheeky, colourful fruit and veg themed undies exclusively for Foodbank to raise much needed funds to feed vulnerable Victorians – of course we said yes!

Boxers that deliver your daily intake of greens
Fruitylicious sports bra and brief sets
Adorable onesie in softest cotton for the new bub in your life

Exclusive to Best and Less stores with proceeds from every purchase coming directly to us.

Shout out to our teeny model Ollie, whose mum is part of our Foodbank team and kindly let us immerse him (briefly) in a crate of fresh mandarins which your generosity helped make possible.

On sale at bestandless.com.au.

Every $1 will help provide 2 meals

Our big, bold plan to nourish the whole of Victoria

With your help, we’ve never worked harder to put food on the tables of vulnerable people in regional Victoria, who are 33% MORE LIKELY than Melbournians to need our help.

Our new Community Food Centres at Morwell and Ballarat will provide the critical missing link between Foodbank’s supply of healthy food, the work of our local charity partners and those needing food relief in Gippsland and The Grampians.

Community kitchens, veggie gardens with native herbs, warehousing made from 100% SUSTAINABLE materials with capacity to store much needed fresh, chilled and frozen food – the spaces will provide a permanent and sustaining solution for the regions.

Encouraging healthier food choices through cooking programs, employment pathways through training and the preservation of local indigenous heritage.

See you soon, Ballarat and Morwell!

Hear that? It’s our cheer squad chanting your name

Every two days with your help, Foodbank Victoria is feeding the equivalent of an MCG crowd – that’s 100,000 PEOPLE who live in our cities, towns, and local neighbourhoods.

Since June, our charity partners have seen a doubling of demand with some assisting over 250 FAMILIES a day in need of food relief.

FIFTY PERCENT of the people seeking food from us now have never had to come to a charity for support before. Many tell us they actually used to donate to Foodbank.

Yes, the cost of living crisis is hitting hard but the support you give means the crowds of people stepping up to seek our help EVERY TWO DAYS will NEVER miss out.

Help turn a surprise chain into a supply chain

No two days are alike in the Foodbank warehouse.

We are deeply grateful for every dented tin, misshapen banana, and slightly crumpled cereal box we receive from our generous food donors. Dropped in by farmers and wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers, and of course amazing, everyday Victorians cleaning out their pantry or running a local food drive for us.

Without this kindness we couldn’t do what we do – but it’s simply not enough.

The potluck nature of food donations often has us scrambling to plug gaps in the quantity and quality of food coming into our warehouse. Impacting on how fast and far we can go with food relief.

But… we have a vision for fixing this if you can join us.

We want to turn our SURPRISE CHAIN into a SUPPLY CHAIN.

When you plan your giving as a regular monthly donor, you’re helping Foodbank plan our food purchasing, so we can turn regular, reliable donations into regular, reliable meals.

YOU can be an integral part of the supply chain bringing healthy, nutritious food to our community by signing up to give a regular donation from your bank account or credit card every month.