FareShare meals are distributed to hundreds of frontline charities supporting people in crisis.
Lisa and Craig provide a warm welcome with FareShare meals Ballarat winters are notoriously harsh. It’s hard to imagine how anyone sleeping rough could even survive. Centacare’s Peplow House provides temporary relief with crisis accommodation for single men experiencing homelessness. Residents are provided intensive support to address a broad range
Madut can’t resist Emily’s appealing fruit platter The day FareShare chef Emily finally met the children who enjoy her specially-prepared lunches was one of her most memorable. Every Monday, Emily has been up before 6 to create healthy platters for 24 four-year-olds at TRY South Yarra Pre School on the
A hot FareShare meal awaits families fleeing family violence at Emerge Women and Children’s Support Network. “When families arrive at our crisis accommodation, they have often fled their homes with nothing,” explains manager Jessica Woller. “They are traumatised, frightened, confused and unaware of their surroundings. “It’s great to be able
Pensioner Joe enjoys a hot meal One of the most rewarding aspects of working at FareShare is meeting the people who receive our meals and the charities which support them. “We see a lot of domestic violence, single mums, and retirees who don’t have the funds to feed themselves,” says
Our meals are distributed to large and small charities who help people in desperate need secure nutritious food.
These agencies include soup vans, homeless shelters, women’s refuges, support groups for single parents, RSLs and school breakfast programs in disadvantaged areas. They also include large groups like the Salvation Army and the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre.
Some charities serve our meals directly, such as Vinnies’ Vans which hand out our savoury pastries and soup. Others pack them in food parcels for vulnerable people to take away.
Once cooked in our kitchen, we chill our meals and immediately deliver them for serving within a couple of days. We can only provide meals directly to a small number of charities. Most of our meals in Victoria, and all of our meals in Queensland, are distributed by Foodbank.
We provide all our meals free of charge, and charities must guarantee to give them away for free to the men, women and children in need of support within their communities.
Father Bob Maguire Foundation supports some of the most disadvantaged people in Melbourne including increasing numbers facing homelessness and isolation.
All Father Bob’s meals are served in parks and open spaces were diners can enjoy their food in a sociable environment. Its food van service is more like a picnic than a soup van. Volunteers serve food from tables and greet diners who can choose from an array of healthy options.
“We believe that if you feed people nutritious food, they will feel better physically, psychologically and emotionally” says Father Bob whose charity hands out food to 600 people per week.
The St Vincent de Paul Society has five soup vans that travel the streets of Melbourne, Berwick and Moe. FareShare supplies around 100 litres of soup a week to Vinnie’s Matthew Talbot Soup Van, which operates out of Our Lady’s Parish Hall in Maidstone.
Servicing the areas of Maidstone, Footscray and Williamstown, the van visits regular addresses that include boarding houses, housing ministry flats, a women’s refuge, Half Moon Caravan Park, and a stop outside the Whitten oval.
Many of the people who visit the van are not homeless, but struggle in their lives due to alcohol or substance abuse or mental illness. The van’s volunteers provide them with welcome food and company, and perhaps more importantly, acceptance of some of society’s most marginalised people.
For many people the words ‘hunger’ and ‘malnutrition’ conjure up images of starvation in Horn of Africa countries and developing nations in Asia. Most Australians are unaware that hunger and malnutrition also exist much closer to home – and are shocked by the extent of hunger in the lucky country.
According to the 2017 Foodbank Hunger Report, more than 3.6 million Australians experience food insecurity each year – meaning that they “didn’t have enough food for themselves or their family, and could not afford to buy more.” Sixty per cent of those people are going hungry at least once a month and for some, putting food on the table is a daily struggle.
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.
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
• Indigenous Australians
• Children with no food at home who are going to school without breakfast or lunch
• People in poor health or battling addiction
• Isolated elderly people
• People with mental health issues or physical disabilities
• Students and young people living independently and struggling to make ends meet.
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.