Having herself experienced homelessness, photographer Ganiele Newbegin Maxwell understands the importance of services such as FoodShare.
“Years ago I actually became homeless with my four young children through circumstances that happened, I didn’t have a rental history,’’ she said.
“No-one would rent me a house because I didn’t have a permanent job.
“I actually had to use places like FoodShare and community centres, and I house sat with my kids until I could find somewhere to live, and that’s why it touched me so much seeing all these people and I just wanted to do something for them.”
So she did.
Ms Newbegin Maxwell, who with the encouragement of a friend, Peter Russell, who recently died, was planning an exhibition of her photographs, and decided to donate the proceeds from any sales to FoodShare.
“They were mostly photos from around the area,’’ she said.
“Sunrises and sunsets, the Shepparton lake.
“Out at Dookie, the canola fields.
“I look after my dad out at his property (Lemnos way) because he’s elderly and I’m his carer, and you get some really nice foggy sunrises over the dam or sunsets across the cow paddocks.”
The Shepparton Brewery supported Ms Newbegin Maxwell’s idea by providing a venue for the exhibition and adding the $1490 raised from sales of her photographs to its ‘Community Chest’ for a total donation of $3440 to support FoodShare’s relief operations, which she said were in greater demand than ever.
“Especially now with the floods,’’ she said.
“It’s just made so many people, who have homes, homeless, because the floods have destroyed their homes.
“It’s like, ‘How am I going to pay for this?’ or ‘How am I going to feed my kids next week?’
“It was just unbelievable that I was in that position, and you don’t actually like to admit that you need help.
“You don’t like people to know.
“You feel embarrassed about it, but sometimes you get to the stage where you really need the help and when you do ask for the help, it’s just a relief that these people are willing to help you.”