Shepparton FoodShare is asking people of the region who can, to make a meal of it in June — because many people at the moment cannot.
FoodShare has been rescuing and receiving donations of food to redistribute to those in need across the Goulburn Valley since 2012, and in June will hold its major fundraiser, which will allow it to continue that vital work through the next 12 months.
FoodShare’s ‘Make A Meal of June’ annual fundraising dinner returns to The Woolshed @ Emerald Bank on Wednesday, June 7 with the hope of improving on last year’s $75,000 raised as, unfortunately, the demand on the organisation’s work has only increased since then.
“We’re hearing from our agencies that there’s an increase in demand and they’re seeing people that they haven’t really seen before, so ... people accessing their services is definitely increasing,” Shepparton FoodShare executive officer Glenn Peric said.
“For us as well, we’re seeing, I think we have nine time slots a day, where agencies can come and pick up from us, and we’ve had to actually start adding in extras to be able to meet the needs.”
Mr Peric said he had noticed increased need since last October’s floods, which he put down partly to more people having difficulty putting food on their tables and an increased awareness of the service the organisation offered.
“Our community has been hit hard, several years of the rising costs of living, pandemic and more recently floods, have all impacted food security,” he said.
Registered emergency relief agencies, schools, churches and community meals programs have collected and distributed more than 3.8 million kilograms of food from FoodShare to the most vulnerable in the region since 2012.
The organisation has no regular or guaranteed funding to do that work, relying on community generosity and its own fundraising efforts.
Make a Meal of June is one of those, raising in excess of $530,000 since it commenced in 2017.
“We can be proud of that as a community,” Mr Peric said.
“It just shows the community spirit we have in terms of supporting each other and helping each other out. That’s a real hallmark of Shepparton, which I think makes us proud to be able to live in this place for that reason.”
The evening includes a three-course meal, welcome drink donated by Fowles Wines and an update on the progress of FoodShare’s new warehouse project.
Mooroopna Park Primary School principal Hayden Beaton will also discuss the impact of regularly receiving food from Shepparton FoodShare for his school’s award-winning wellbeing and meals program.
Tickets to Make a Meal of June can be purchased at www.sheppartonfoodshare.org.au