Bell Primary School students collect 200kg of food for Need a Feed Victoria

STUDENTS from a primary school in Melbourne’s north are helping to feed those struggling for food by collecting 200kg of non-perishable food.

Bell Primary School students, Preston, have collected 200kg of non-perishable food to help ÔNeed A FeedÕ support Darebin locals struggling to make ends meet. Sarah, Kayla, Mariana and Micheala in front l to r and back Olivia, Audrey, Ela , Nina and Lucinda have all participated and volunteered their time to collect donated goods. Pictures:Angie Basdekis

BELL Primary School students are helping to feed those in need.

Students from the Oakover Rd school last month donated 200kg of non-perishable food to Need a Feed Victoria, to go towards supporting Darebin residents struggling to make ends meet.

Need a Feed Victoria was formed by Darebin mums Suzi Blackburn and Nikki Shelton this year after receiving a Darebin Community Grant.

Ms Blackburn said she was thrilled with the students’ donations after visiting the school earlier this year to discuss community food drives.

“We spoke to the Bell Primary School students about the Need a Feed food programs and how communities would benefit,” Ms Blackburn said.

“The students were excited at the opportunity to organise their own food drive to support our efforts.”

Bell Primary School assistant principal Marg Sneddon said the food drive taught students about “issues facing those in our community, as well as global communities”.

Need a Feed was formed in NSW in 2013, and has since spread to Queensland and Victoria.

The charity provides food support to families in need, and has partnerships with local organisations.

Need A Feed Victoria aims to provide Christmas hampers to more than 200 families in Darebin during December.

A Need A Feed public collection point is at the Thornbury IGA in Miller St.

Food facts

ABOUT one-third of the food produced for human consumption worldwide every year — roughly 1.3 billion tonnes — is lost or wasted.

Consumers in affluent countries waste about as much food as the entire food production of sub-Saharan Africa each year

Source: Global food losses and food waste — Extent, causes and prevention — UN, 2011