Two Shepparton community organisations have been given welcome boosts by the Freemasons.
FoodShare Shepparton was handed $10,000, while Dungala Kaiela Foundation’s ASHE program was given $43,000.
Freemasons Foundation Victoria deputy chairman Philip Mayers said both organisations were worthy of support.
He said Dungala Kaiela had a “great mission” and he was in awe of Paul and Kylie Briggs, both of whom played important roles for the organisation.
“It's giving people an identity, part of a group as part of a community and giving them an award for their involvement,” Mr Mayer said.
He visited the FoodShare warehouse following the $10,000 donation and said “they're a great organisation that do wonderful work”.
“We have supported them for many years, previously we’ve given them $35,000 (in 2021) and the local lodge had given them $5000, and today we’ve given them another $10,000 to round it to a nice $50,000,” Mr Mayer said.
“I think, thank God there's a place like FoodShare Shepperton that's able to help people who need that support.”
FoodShare chairman Jeremy Rensford said the organisation didn’t receive government funding, outside two payments at the height of the pandemic lockdowns.
“It’s benevolent societies and individuals and community support which keeps us going,” he said.
“We try and spend as little as possible ... so every $10,000 or $1 that you get, contributes towards that.”
He said the dual donations of $17,000 and $18,000 — during Shepparton’s lockdown — were a “godsend”.
“That first Freemasons grant was just as COVID hit and we were sparse, we were struggling for supplies and we were panicking, we knew this lockdown would be for 20,000 people,” Mr Rensford said.
“(Co-ordinator Grace Grieve) looked at me and said ‘we’ve got six days left’.
"I think I've said it a million times how humbled we are by the generosity of the Shepparton community and the wider community generally.“
He said the money would be useful to help keep shelves stocked, but he said the organisation desperately needed more volunteers to keep the doors open four days a week following losses of volunteers from vaccine mandates and health complications.