School Spotlight: Bundarra Primary School

With the number of activities on offer for students at Bundarra Primary School’s Breakfast Club, grabbing a nutritious breakfast is just another bonus. At Breakfast Club students have the option of playing with puzzle books and card games, practising their colouring skills with food themed colouring sheets, or trying their hand at breakfast trivia. The room is also decorated with breakfast themed pictures and information.

The games and activities help create a very social environment for students, which encourages a large turnout each morning.

Here’s what Bundarra PS Breakfast Club Coordinator, Katie had to say:

“We open at 8:30am every morning serving breakfast to anyone who wants it – sometimes even mums, dads, grandparents and friends eat with their kids! Our Breakfast Club is based in an old kitchen that’s been cleaned up and has become the social safe hub of our school. We have books, puzzles, weekly trivia, colouring sheets and card games available every day. We have a Breakfast Club playlist that the kids choose songs to be added to and is played every morning – there has been the occasional dance off! The kids know there will always be a place to go and someone to talk to.

We have a ‘Breakfast Team’ of 3 senior students that change each term. Part of their job is to greet other students when they arrive in the kitchen, they keep breakfast running smoothly – helping make toasted sandwiches, toast and apple slinkies and help clean up when breakfast is finished. The Breakfast Team are rostered on twice a week although they often still come in and help out on the other days! The kitchen is open to the whole school and its awesome watching kids interact with other students they normally wouldn’t interact with. We can’t thank Foodbank enough for giving us the opportunity to be able to provide this for our school community and without the amazing generosity of Bakers Delight in Portland we wouldn’t have the variety of food we do.”

Want to share what you do to engage the school community with breakfast club? Email us at schoolbreakfastclub@foodbankvictoria.org.au

Little Max ready to Run Melbourne with Foodbank

Run Melbourne is fast approaching, and this week, we had the pleasure of meeting the youngest addition to our team – Max D’Alessandro.

Sporting his Foodbank running shirt, Max stopped by our warehouse with parents, Stacy and Geoff, to donate food that he bought with pocket money he had been saving in his Barefoot Investor inspired ‘Give Jar.’

Max and his family have been training for the 5km walk/run around Melbourne’s CBD by attending weekly Park Runs in their local community.

“We usually go together. We also have a one year old and a three year old and Geoff pushes them in the pram whilst Max and I run,” said Stacy.

The entire family have been fundraising for Max’s first ever Run Melbourne, and have already raised more than $1,400 for Foodbank Victoria.

When asked how Max had heard about Foodbank, Geoff explained that “a local charity provide breakfast to kids at his school every Thursday morning. Max asked me why they do this, and I told him that sadly, some kids go without food. Stacy also reads the Barefoot Investor, so Max has been earning pocket money for his Give Jar. He gets an extra $2 a week for taking the neighbour’s bins out.”

Max has inspired those around him, including his teachers and fellow students at his Craigieburn school where he was featured in the school newsletter.

The speedy six-year-old revealed that he was excited to run around Melbourne and help kids his age that may be going hungry.

“I wanted to teach him the importance of kindness and giving at a young age, and how good it makes you feel to help others. He loves running, so we thought we would incorporate the two,” said Stacy.

We are so excited to have young Max on our team and cannot wait to see him cross the finish line on Sunday 28 July.

Want to join Max at Run Melbourne with Team Foodbank? Contact us.

Students of St Leonard’s College are running Melbourne to help the hungry

Students from Cullen House, St Leonard’s College are getting ready to Run Melbourne to raise vital funds for Victorians in need.

In 2018, St Leonard’s College called upon its six Houses (Allen, Cullen, Forster, McMeekin, Munro, Newman) to develop and contribute to a school-wide social action plan, encouraging students to work together for the good of others.

Each House was asked to select an issue affecting the well-being of youth on a local, national and global scale, along with an affiliated organisation that actively contributes to the alleviation of the chosen cause.

Choosing hunger as their social action theme, the students of Cullen House reached out to Foodbank Victoria in a bid to raise funds for hungry Victorian youth and their families. Students from Prep, all the way through to Year 12, have supported Foodbank by holding food drives, and will join Team Foodbank for Run Melbourne on Sunday 28 July, 2019 – raising funds via their Everyday Hero Fundraising page.

We caught up with Pip and Cooper, both Year 12 students of Cullen House, to learn more about why they think it is important to support youth-related causes, and what they have planned in the lead up to the big event.

Is this the first year you have participated in Run Melbourne? 

Pip: This is the first year St Leonard’s Cullen House has created a team for the event and we are looking forward to participating, whilst raising funds in support of Foodbank’s efforts to address Victoria’s food insecurity.

Cooper: Yes, it is my first time. I would say I’m more nervous than excited. I am looking forward to crossing the finish line (assuming I make it!). It would be a cool achievement for myself, and it makes me happy that I’m able to take this opportunity to hopefully make a small difference to someone’s life.

With so many running events taking place in Melbourne each year, why the decision to take part in Run Melbourne?

Pip: After discovering that Foodbank was involved with Run Melbourne, we jumped on the opportunity as it seemed an exciting and challenging event in which students were able to choose varied distances in relation to their fitness levels. On top of various other fundraising activities through which Cullen supports Foodbank, we saw Run Melbourne as a good opportunity to actively engage with this important issue.

What inspired you to support Foodbank Victoria?

Pip: Through the St Leonard’s food initiative, Lennie’s Van, which facilitates community hot breakfast services for members of our local community considered food vulnerable or in need. Cullen students gained an insight into this important issue that is often overlooked. Shortly after researching Foodbank, Cullen students and staff agreed upon this wide spread food relief organisation to extend our contribution to those who are food insecure in the wider community.

Do you have a fundraising goal you are working towards? 

Pip: Cullen House aims to fundraise a minimum of $700 to donate to Foodbank Victoria. A month prior to the event we are over halfway to completing this goal. For every dollar donated, Foodbank provides two meals to hungry Australians. With this in mind our fundraising goal would fill the tummies of food insecure Australians 1400 times. This goal gives incentive to our runners to try their hardest throughout the event, keeping in mind this outstanding contribution.

How will you be training in the lead up to the event?

Pip: Our team of enthusiastic runners will continue being a part of our early morning Running Club sessions held before school twice a week as well as go on individual runs throughout the holidays and on weekends. Student training is in line with the Cullen team’s aims; to raise as many funds as possible in support of a great cause and also to perform some new PBs!

Why do you think it is important for students to support charitable organisations like Foodbank?

Cooper: It’s important for students to be more selfless and be willing in future to help others, ultimately bringing communities and the world together in the future.

Why do you think it is important for students to take part in events like Run Melbourne?

Cooper: I believe it’s important to engage and help the community around you. I watched a video that said that most older people regret the things they didn’t do, rather than the things they did in life, so I think we should take every opportunity we are given. Completing the run would be a great achievement to look back on in the future, and it would also feel nice to know that you helped someone else in the process. I would definitely recommend people debating whether to do it or not to at least try, and also challenge yourself, as there’s no shame in doing it slow.

Lennie’s Van photos courtesy of St Leonard’s College YouTube Channel – Lennie’s Van Video, 2018. Click here to view the full video.

Refugee Week: sharing Lena’s story

Refugee Week is an opportunity for the whole nation to celebrate the contribution refugees make to our society, and remembering and honouring the often perilous journey that refugees have taken to reach Australia – just like Lena Heto, former refugee and Foodbank volunteer.

Lena didn’t have the easiest start to life. But through the years, she has used art to help her heal and now harnesses her creativity to help others in need.

Born in Iraq in the late 1980s, Lena and her parents fled her war-torn homeland when she was just 3 years of age. She vividly remembers the night they crossed the border, as bombs shook the ground and her family’s life was reduced to a single suitcase.

After spending 5 years in Syria as refugees, it wasn’t until her parents gave birth to her younger sister that they were granted asylum in Australia.

When she arrived in Australia at age 8, Lena drew and painted to not only deal with the traumatic change but to help her communicate with her fellow students – as her English was very limited.

“Drawing helped me learn English. When I was communicating with kids at school, I would draw pictures and they would tell me the English word for the drawing which was so helpful.”

Lena reflects that she always turned to art to help her deal with her surroundings, often filling up her exercise books with drawings and illustrations.

“I started drawing at a really young age. It was in math’s class I used to draw intricate borders on every page of my exercise books.”

Almost 20 years later, Lena and her family are thriving. She works in a marketing role with a global organisation and now uses her art to give back to the communities that once helped her family when they couldn’t afford to put food on the table.

It’s been a journey and very character building. It teaches you a lot especially as a child when you thought living in a refugee camp was the norm and then you come to Australia and you see that you have freedom, you have safety and independence and equal rights.

She has previously hand illustrated cards and sold them at markets to raise funds for Foodbank and currently volunteers her time creating art work to help celebrate the efforts of other Foodbank volunteers.

Foodbank currently works with over 420 charity partners across the state, with 96 of these partners directly assisting refugee and migrant communities.

Click here to read more stories about some of the charity organisations and people we work with.

Teacher’s Marathon Achievement

Most people might plan a party for a life milestone such as turning 60. Not Adrian Bol.

Teacher, father, grandfather and fitness fanatic Adrian Bol conquered the unconquerable – seven marathons, on seven beaches, in seven states and territories, on seven consecutive days – all to raise funds for Foodbank Victoria.

Crossing the finish line at Melbourne’s Bonbeach on Wednesday 12 June, Adrian was relieved, emotional and proud of his momentous achievement.

“It’s been an awesome journey. It’s emotional,” he said. “I knew the family would be here. I knew that I was going to get emotional.”

From sunny skies in Darwin, to a wet and wintery morning in Melbourne, Adrian described each of the marathons as challenging, particularly in Darwin where he was faced with unexpected conditions – a high sea tide which meant restricted access to the beach. 

“It was 28 degrees… I had to run 400 metres and then stop at the end, and then turn around. I had to do over 100 laps. That was the hardest marathon out of all of them. But it set me up to complete the other six.”

For months now Adrian has been getting up as early as 3.30am to train on his local beach, Bonbeach in Melbourne’s south-east, before arriving at his school to teach. 

“I’ve had a blessed career and I want to give back. There’s a lot of families in need, a lot of people are really doing it tough and if it wasn’t for Foodbank they’d be doing it a lot tougher.”

Over the course of seven days, Adrian spent around 18 hours flying and 35 hours running a marathon length along each of the seven beaches: Casuarina Beach (Darwin), Scarborough Beach (Perth), Glenelg Beach (Adelaide), Kirra Beach (Gold Coast), Seven Mile Beach (Hobart) and lastly, Bonbeach (Melbourne). 

“I’m really really proud of this. Having done it. I set myself personal challenges as well, times and so forth. I wanted to do sub-5s. And I pretty much did sub-5 hour marathons in succession. That to me was a personal challenge… I didn’t think I could that at 60.”

Darren, who looked after the logistics of the event for Adrian, was blown away by his efforts.

“Adrian has consistently used the phrase that he is an ordinary person attempting something that is extraordinary. Without any question what we witnessed in Darwin on 06th June 2019 was extraordinary. To complete that marathon, on sand, on his 60th birthday was a feat of endurance, determination and sheer bloody guts that I have never seen before,” said Darren.

You can still support Adrian’s marathon fundraising efforts by donating on his everydayhero.com.au fundraising page.

National Volunteer Week: celebrating our wonderful volunteers

20-26 May, 2019

 
Volunteers are vital to the work that we do. Last year, 2721 individuals volunteered almost 30,000 hours of time to Foodbank Victoria, helping to distribute the equivalent of 15 million meals.

“From packing orders of food and grocery items in our Yarraville warehouse; delivering hampers to those in need; distributing fresh food at our pop-up markets; or assisting with important office duties – our volunteers are truly the backbone of our organisation” –  Dave McNamara, Foodbank Victoria CEO (read media release here).

To put it simply, our volunteers are truly making a world of difference not just here at Foodbank, but for many hungry Victorians right across the state. And for that, we say THANK YOU!

To celebrate National Volunteer Week we asked some of our regular volunteers to share what they get up to when they’re not fighting hunger…

Interested in volunteering? Click here to find out more about volunteering at Foodbank Victoria, or with one of our Charity or School Breakfast Club partners.

Bombers and EnergyAustralia kicking goals to end hunger

Essendon Football Club and EnergyAustralia are again teaming up this year with Foodbank Victoria for the ‘Goals To End Hunger’ initiative.

For every goal kicked by the Bombers throughout the home and away season, EnergyAustralia will donate 200 meals to Foodbank Victoria.

In 2018 the initiative applied to home games only. A total of 28,400 meals were donated through the Bombers’ 142 home goals, and EnergyAustralia generously increased this final figure to 50,000 meals for Foodbank Victoria.

Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell said the Club was proud to continue its partnership with EnergyAustralia and Foodbank.

“We are thrilled to be involved in the ‘Goals To End Hunger’ initiative again in 2019 and support Victorians in need by providing food through Foodbank Victoria,” Campbell said.

“With the support of EnergyAustralia and Foodbank, last year we were able to contribute 50,000 meals to Victorians, a small but important step towards combatting hunger in this state.

“Thanks to EnergyAustralia, for every goal kicked by the red and black this season, EnergyAustralia will donate 200 meals to Foodbank. After a fantastic showing in front of goal on Friday night, the tally for the year stands at 6,800 meals.”

Foodbank Victoria CEO, Dave McNamara, said the sheer scale of food insecurity was a shock to most people.

“Every month in Victoria we feed more people than can fit inside a packed MCG. While we have the food to assist 116,000 Victorians every month, another 12,000 are turned away as there’s simply not enough to go around.

“As an Essendon supporter I’m looking forward to watching the Bombers boot plenty of goals, which will help us close this gap between supply and demand thanks to the generosity of EnergyAustralia.”

EnergyAustralia Head of Strategy & Reputation, Jack Kotlyar, said the partnership helps put food on the table for those who need it most.

“Unfortunately for many people in our community it’s not easy getting a well-lit and warm home or a solid meal. Whether it’s the transition to cleaner forms of energy or the basic necessities of life, we don’t want to see anyone get left behind. Our work with Foodbank Victoria is about being there for people when they need us most.”

“The ‘Goals To End Hunger’ initiative allows EnergyAustralia an opportunity to do something important in a fun way, giving people reason to cheer.”

Watch the video below to see Essendon Legend Kevin Sheedy talk about the Goals To End Hunger initiative in 2018.