Bowen Neighborhood Centre shares new figures on those who can’t eat

Increasing numbers of residents in a North Queensland community cannot “afford to eat once a day”, stretching community services to the limit, with one demographic showing a worrying trend

The Bowen Neighborhood Centre said they were counting on volunteers more than ever as the association has seen an increase of Bowen residents needing assistance. Picture: Contributed

The Bowen Neighborhood Centre says the amount of people needing their services has more than tripled this year, as the state faces long-lasting inflation.

Bowen Neighborhood Centre’s executive officer Stephanie Cora said the centre went from catering to about 10 people a week to 30 to 40 a week, which has put a stretch on capacity as the centre is mostly run by volunteers and meals are provided to the community thanks to donations.

“The Bowen community is great at donating things, we’ve had someone donate 70 eggs to us today as an example,” Ms Cora said.

“But that stuff will go in the three hours after [the tuckerbox] opened.”

Ms Cora said apart from the increasing numbers needing help from the centre, they had also observed a shift in the demographic of those who come for help.

She said people attending the centre used to be in the 18 to 30 age range, but that volunteers were now seeing increasing numbers of people over 55, who could not afford to “eat once a day”.

The Bowen Neighborhood Centre had organised a “Hamburgers for homelessness” fundraiser during homelessness week. Picture: Contributed

“These people are in their late 60s, still have mortgages and are renting out rooms to pay it out.”

Ms Cora said the community centre had always managed to survive up until now thanks to its dedicated team of 12 to 15 volunteers and being able to count on recurrent donations from members of the community, such as day care centres organising for their kids to donate food baskets, or Woolworths donating food.

“But people can’t always help,” Ms Cora said.

The Bowen Neighborhood Centre had organised a “Hamburgers for homelessness” fundraiser during homelessness week. Picture: Contributed

Ms Cora said while the centre could not do anything about providing people with more affordable housing options, there was room for the centre to teach people how to be more sustainable in food.

She said knowledge “hasn’t been passed on”, and one of the solutions offered by the centre would to teach people how to cook and plan how to do budget meals.

If you want to know more about the Bowen Neighborhood Centre, you can head here.