Donations urgently needed ahead of the school holidays

Food donations to the state’s largest hunger relief organisation, Foodbank WA, are down 20,000 kilograms per month on average this year, leaving them desperate for food and financial donations for the school holidays.

Foodbank WA rescues food that is destined for landfill from farmers, manufacturers and supermarkets and redirects it to the charity sector, providing more than 6.1 million meals annually to the charity sector via its branches located in Perth, Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Peel. Increasingly there is a gap between the amount of food rescued and what it needed to meet the need in the community.

Foodbank WA CEO Greg Hebble said more and more people need their help and they don’t have enough food to give them.

“We’ve got frozen and fresh food at the moment, however we urgently need a variety of basic pantry items. Things like breakfast cereal, canned spaghetti, canned fish, noodles, pasta and other essentials that you would buy for your own family, would really help,” Mr Hebble said.

It’s estimated that 100,000 West Australian children live in food insecure households and lack regular access to the nutrious foods needed for normal growth and development.  Many go without breakfast, skip meals, go without lunch and some don’t eat for an entire day.

“The school holidays can be particularly tough for families that rely on school breakfasts and emergency meals at school to feed their kids. Holidays put extra strain on the household budget and more kids are at risk of going hungry”

Foodbank WA distributed over 6.1 million meals throughout the state last financial year. They also run the state’s largest School Breakfast Program providing an addition 2.4 million serves of breakfast across over 470 schools and feeding 18,000 children every week.

“It’s devastating to think that kids will go hungry because due to a lack of donations. There is a lot more that can be done. If you can donate food or make a financial donation, please get in touch. ” Mr Hebble said.

Foodbank WA is continuing to work with the state government, local businesses and philanthropists to secure funding to purchase food.