Food for all at community event

By Grace Carter

Feb 9, 2024

Food for all: The Seymour Community FoodShare provides fresh food for locals in need.

Leave what you can, take what you need — the guiding principle of the Seymour Community FoodShare.

Barbara Walker, the business relationship officer at the Centre for Continuing Education in Seymour, said the goal of the FoodShare was to provide food to people struggling in the local community.

“There’s no assessment or eligibility people need to meet. Our goal is to encourage people who need help to come forward and take the stigma away,” she said.

Feeding change: Charmaine Botting and Brotherhood of St Laurence SEED Project co-ordinator Samantha Hugill helping out at the Seymour FoodShare.

The food relief event is a collaborative effort between Healthy Kids Mitchell, a part of Nexus Primary Health, and the Centre for Continuing Education.

It’s held on the first Thursday of every month.

Ms Walker said Lucy Linton from Healthy Kids Mitchell approached her with the idea, but they needed a place to host the monthly event.

“We didn’t have a place to hold it, so I approached the CEO and board to have it here (the centre) and use one of the training facility rooms,” she said.

The event gets the support of numerous sponsors, including Foodbank, Shepparton FoodShare, Seymour Toyota and Coles Seymour, among many others.

Delivering results: Seymour Toyota is a major sponsor of the Seymour FoodShare.

The inaugural event took place in July 2023 and has grown from there.

The centre held the eighth FoodShare event on Thursday, February 1, attracting 102 attendees, equating to 214 household members provided with food.

Ms Walker said organisers kept track of how many people attended and used the service, rather than who attends.

“We don’t want names. We collect data to see if an increase (of the FoodShare) is needed,” she said.

“There is very little left over (at each event). We’ve seen an increase in demand.”

“We’d like to be able to keep it more consistent and do it more often than once a month. It’s one of our goals to have a permanent location for it.”

Spirits high: The Centre for Continuing Education chief executive Sue Geals, the centre’s business relationship officer, Barbara Walker, and Proactive Policing Unit’s Leading Senior Constable Brooke Malane.

Although the event is locked in for the first Thursday of every month, the centre can host FoodShare events more frequently if needed.

“We had two FoodShare events within two weeks over the Christmas period and when the floods were on,” Ms Walker said.

If you or someone you know needs the service, the next Seymour Community FoodShare event is on Thursday, March 7, from 10am to 3pm at the Centre for Continuing Education, 3 Wallis St, Seymour.