FareShare meals are distributed to hundreds of frontline charities supporting people experiencing hardship.
FareShare will be present at many NAIDOC 2024 activities this week, and supports the celebration and recognition of the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in
Meals for the Mob update: experiencing meals first hand FareShare’s Meals for the Mob program aims to offer First Nations community groups and services access to free, healthy, culturally appropriate meals. The program continues to expand, with its most recent initiative resulting in the commencement of essential food supplies and
FareShare onboards new charity partners When FareShare began its major, yearlong Abbotsford kitchen redevelopment back in March last year, we knew it wouldn’t be easy. But we were united by a singular goal: to enable our chefs and volunteers to cook more free, nutritious meals for people who need them
Get to know some of the elderly people who enjoy FareShare meals Times are tough for our elderly people. Instead of enjoying their golden years, many in our elderly community are finding that their pensions are not stretching far enough. On our charity partner visits, we hear so many elderly
Our meals are distributed to large and small charities and community groups who help people in need of nutritious food.
These charities include soup vans, homeless shelters, women’s refuges, support groups for single parents, disaster relief centres, RSLs and neighbourhood houses. They also include large organisations such as The Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul, and regional hubs such as those in Bendigo and Shepparton.
FareShare meals are provided to people affected by natural disaster such as bushfires and floods, and to vulnerable groups such as asylum seekers.
Some charities serve our meals directly, such as Vinnies’ Soup Vans which shares our hot pastries. Others pack them in food parcels for vulnerable people to take away or operate community pantries where clients can pick them up. Some charities offer microwaves where people can heat up a meal.
Once cooked in our kitchen, our meals are frozen and delivered within a couple of days. We only provide meals via our charity partners and are unable to hand out meals to families and individuals directly.
Many of our meals in Victoria are distributed by SecondBite, while Foodbank is our main distribution partner in Queensland. Meals cooked in our Abbotsford kitchen are also being distributed to New South Wales thanks to collaboration with SecondBite.
We provide all our meals free of charge.
According to the Foodbank Hunger Report 2022, more than 2 million households in Australia have run out of food in the last year, sometimes skipping meals or going whole days without eating. 1.3 million children lived in food insecure households during that time.
Some of the most common reasons people skip meals or are unable to buy food include having limited income to meet the increasing cost of living, bill shock, housing affordability, and the expense of staple food items.
Australia’s economic statistics look impressive next to many other countries, but they fail to convey that too many in our society are struggling.
Adults are skipping meals, children are going to school without breakfast or lunch, and many families cannot afford healthy food.
Being able to access nutritious food makes a huge difference to people who would otherwise go without. They are no longer distracted by hunger, can focus on their education or work, benefit from improved physical and mental health, and are more socially engaged.
The fact is, people going hungry come from all walks of life.
FareShare supports hundreds of charities feeding families and individuals in dire need. They include:
• Single parent or low-income families
• People experiencing homelessness or living in transient and crisis accommodation
• Mothers and children fleeing domestic violence
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• A family where a parent has lost work
• First Nations communities
• People in poor health or battling addiction
• Isolated elderly people
• Communities experiencing natural disasters.
• Students and young people living independently and struggling to make ends meet.
If you are looking for food assistance, you can find a community food program near you by visiting the Ask Izzy website via the link below.
