Helping Hands Outreach Project Dalby reaches out to Toowoomba group to meet rising demand

A Dalby community group has reached out to a Toowoomba service to help them meet demand for food hampers to help address Dalby’s cost of living woes.

A Dalby charity has sought outside help to meet the growing demand for food hampers in the region.

Helping Hands Outreach Project Dalby have employed Loaves and Fishes Care Services Toowoomba to come to Dalby once a month to help provide food hampers for the struggling families.

They said demand had reached a point where it was exceeding their capability to provide Emergency Food Hampers.

Helping Hands manager Lizzie Harvey said in her ten years as part of the organisation she had never seen a higher demand for support.

“We do emergency food boxes for free and that comes out of donations from the community and we just don't have enough to support them,” she said.

“We are providing 20 emergency food hampers a week in Dalby alone and Circles of Care are providing 180 hampers every Thursday.

“The need for support is increasing daily with the rental crisis and above board everything has got more expensive.

“I really believe it is the worst it's ever been, I have been with the organisation for 10 years and we have seen a major increase, we help everyone including pensions and they are suffering greatly, their food money is going to rent now, there are also a lot more homeless now.

“It’s not just one group of people we are seeing its diverse groups of people across the board.”

Dalby Helping Hands volunteer Lizzie Harvey. Picture: Sam Turner

Ms Harvey said Loaves and Fishes Care Services Toowoomba’s support would help provide some respite.

“They are going to come out once a month and distribute boxes to people in need,” she said.

“They are a charity that distribute food hampers at a value of $60 and they travel all the way out to Mitchell and Saint George.

“In the food hamper people will get meat, fruit and veg, non perishables and they may also get pet food.”

Ms Harvey said they were always looking for donations and support from the community.

“We are always taking donations, I run a charity shop which takes donations of clothes and furniture to sell and pay our overheads, fortunately we have a lot of businesses that help us,” she said.

“We also take donations of food we have a couple of families who do a monthly shop and bring in a couple of bags of food but we could always do with more support.”

Ms Harvey said collaboration between charities was key to helping those in need.

“It is very important all charities band together to help the community,” she said.

“This will help in alleviating us and other charities that go above and beyond in supporting the community and districts, In no way is it detrimental to any other charity, we need to work together as a community.

“I work with all the charities in Dalby we chat with each other and everyone is in the same boat we struggle ourselves to its important to all help each other.”