Drysdale Foodbank to close amid financial hardship, changing staff

A Drysdale food relief service will shut its door at the end of the month after providing groceries to residents in need for 25 years.

The Drysdale food bank, run by Jake Hogendoorn, will close. He is pictured with volunteer Sarah Jones (volunteer). picture: Glenn Ferguson

A Drysdale food relief service will shut its door at the end of the month after providing groceries to residents in need for 25 years.

Drysdale Foodbank co-ordinator Jake Hogendoorn, also the pastor of Drysdale Community Church, said financial hardship was one of the many reasons for the service’s impending closure.

“It was instigated by the lack of funding, but it’s also just coming to a natural close,” he said.

“I retire in October, it (the service) is something that my wife and I started … we’ve been doing this for 25 years.

“(The closure) is hard for the clients.”

Mr Hogendoorn said the number of people accessing the service had risen in 2025, with more than 40 families using the service weekly.

The Drysdale food bank, run by Jake Hogendoorn, will close. He is pictured with volunteer Sarah Jones (volunteer). picture: Glenn Ferguson

About 150 families accessed the service across 2024 and more than 2000 food parcels were handed out.

“We’ve got about four archive boxes of people we’ve helped,” Mr Hogendoorn said.

“Thousands of families over the years.”

He said some clients had been saddened by the news of the service’s closure.

“There’s a few people who spoke to us who said ‘we’re not sure where we’re going to go now’,” he said.

“Others felt like they had access to other places, like Feed Me Bellarine.”

Mr Hogendoorn said the decision followed a difficult financial year, with the Geelong charities who usually fund much of the service now spread thin.

He said in May the group had attempted to raise funds among the community but just hadn’t received enough.

According to Give Where You Live’s 2024 food security snapshot, the risk of food insecurity across the Geelong region is increasing.

“Economic vulnerability has increased over recent years in the G21 region, due to continuing impacts of Covid-19 and compounding cost of living factors,” the report found.

The report also noted: “Residents across our region experienced significantly higher levels of food insecurity compared to the Victorian average.”

It referred to state data that found 14 per cent of Barwon residents ran out

of food and could not afford to buy more in 2022, up from 4 per cent in 2020.

Drysdale Foodbank will operate at 276/290 Jetty Rd, Drysdale until July 29.

Originally published as Drysdale Foodbank to close amid financial hardship, changing staff