Feed Appeal $50,000 grant a ‘dream come true’
Food deliveries for the Father Bob Maguire Foundation used to take three trips and a lot of eskies. But a new van allows them to haul meals in a safer, more efficient way – and it’s thanks to your donations.
East
Don't miss out on the headlines from East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
It used to take several trips and eskies to transport meals for this Melbourne charity – now it takes just one.
A $50,000 Feed Victoria Appeal 2019 grant was a “dream come true” for the Father Bob Maguire Foundation, enabling them to finally buy a refrigerated van.
Community meals co-ordinator Graham Collier said their first pick-up with the vehicle included 280 meals, 150 cakes, and three boxes each of quiches and sausage rolls.
In the past that kind of haul would have required three trips and lots of transfers from crates to eskies – a potential food safety hazard.
“We used to be limited to the space we had in eskies but now we’ve got the entire back of the van,” Mr Collier said.
The $50,000 grant was one of only three Feed Appeal Major Projects Grants given out last year.
In the past charities could only apply for up to $15,000 but the new grants focus on building the sustainability and longevity of food relief programs by helping to fund major infrastructure – such as walk-in coolrooms – transport or logistics.
While the charity reported a 50 per cent increase in people seeking help during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Collier said the size and efficiency of the new van enabled them to also collect food for organisations such as South Port Community Housing Group.
“We’ve seen a lot of people coming in who previously had jobs but are now struggling, and we’ve been helping Holmesglen because they’ve had a lot of international students with nowhere to turn,” he said.
Mr Collier said a lot of local businesses had been “fantastic” donating food when they had to shut-up shop.
“We want to thank every person, every business, every organisation that has helped us,” he said.
The Feed Victoria Appeal is back and, with families across Australia hit by job losses and hardship this year, we need your help more than ever.
It raises money to help charities across the country boost their capacity, by funding much-needed equipment such as vans, freezers and coolrooms and access to pantry essentials.
The appeal works in collaboration with Leader Community News and FareShare, and is powered by Newman’s Own Foundation.
Every dollar donated goes to food charities helping communities across the country, and just $2 can provide four meals to #FeedAFamily.
Help people in your community by donating at feedappeal.org.au
RELATED NEWS
FEARS HARDSHIP WILL RISE ONCE JOBKEEPER PAYMENTS END