Seymour’s Community FoodShare celebrated its first anniversary on Thursday, July 4.
To celebrate, the initiative opened a community garden at The Centre in Wallis St which is open to everyone in need.
The Centre CEO Sue Geals said when the idea for a community garden was brought up, the natural thing to do was have it at the same place where the food is.
“It's evolving,” she said.
“It's only finished a week ago, so the seedlings are in there, things grow.
“People can just pick it if they need it, maybe weed it a bit while they’re standing in the queue waiting for food or walking past.
“It just evolves to how people want to use it.”
Ms Geals said that the community is for the people.
Since opening the Community FoodShare hub, they have taken care of 200 families, which consists of a total of 400 family members in Seymour.
Healthy Kids Mitchell key facilitator, and one of the driving forces for the Community FoodShare Lucy Linton said the feedback for the first year has been really positive.
“We've heard a lot of feedback that it's really helping people and taking that pressure off,” she said.
“We’ve heard really positive feedback about it being a really welcoming space too, so they said that it does help to remove that stigma to help people feel comfortable.
“We had a really positive feedback about the staff that we have in here and just being warm and inviting and welcoming.
“I guess those are the main points of being able to help people to get by, and to take some of the cost-of-living pressures.”
The Community FoodShare has become a haven for those in need, and Ms Geals said what makes it impact the community better is it’s reliable and predictable.
“There’s no shame attached with coming to get food,” she said.
“I think the atmosphere is that you just come and get what you need.”
The theme “Leave what you can, take what you need” has become the initiative’s mantra, and the community made sure to come together to make that a reality.
“We wouldn't have been able to get to this spot that we’re at today without some really key major sponsors and partners,” Ms Linton said.
“A really major one is the generous donations from the community.
“We’ve all come together to try and work together to achieve an overall aim of making food relief more equitable, accessible, sustainable and just easier to access for the community.”
Ms Geals said the best part for her was that it helps people fulfil their needs.
“Being hungry is horrible, and we're helping people not be hungry,” she said.
“But not just fill their bellies, but fill their social contact and feel welcome and it’s okay. We’re here to help.”