BUSHFIRE UPDATE

YOUR KINDNESS IN ACTION

 

Thanks to the support of friends like you, we were able to respond quickly during the bushfire crisis. But the crisis is far from over.

While most of the fires have stopped burning and most evacuation centres are closed, we still need your help as Foodbank now moves into the next phase of the food relief plan.

For some, recovery will take months and years, not days and weeks. Some families lost everything in the bushfires, including their jobs, and have no income to buy food and groceries.

Right after the fires had damaged much of the South Coast, we spent some time with local Cobargo residents at the evacuation centre helping distribute our fresh produce, meat and groceries to hungry families. We will never forget Belinda, a resident who had lost her home, shared with us the impact of your support:

“When the food turned up there was hope”.

These communities had lost family members, homes and livelihoods due to the fires, and it is thanks to you that they were able to have nourishing food, water and personal hygiene items in their time of need.

Christine from our partner charity, Sapphire Community Pantry, which is helping residents in the aftermath of the fires also shared her thanks:

“Thanks to the support of Foodbank, we can help people feel normal again.”

Foodbank works to ensure food relief is only going to where it is needed, as long as it is needed.

 

We respond to requests from our existing charity partners, the government, schools, local communities, councils and individuals who feel their area needs assistance.

We then verify with our existing partners in these areas and coordinate with them to make sure there is no doubling up or oversupply and this ensures that areas with the most need are receiving the right kind of support without overloading those that have sufficient supplies.

 

We also work to avoid impacting local businesses but it is important to understand that many people and families have lost everything in the bushfires, including their jobs and don’t have available income to buy food and groceries.

These bushfire impacted families aren’t the only people you have helped. Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to offer the basic comfort of food to many other families across NSW and the ACT in the past few months.

We hope by reading this, your heart is warmed by the difference you have made to the lives of our bushfire affected communities through your ongoing support of Foodbank NSW & ACT.

Bushfire stories