FareShare meals are distributed to hundreds of frontline charities supporting people experiencing hardship.
An open door and a hot meal deliver comfort in tough times FareShare meals are providing welcome relief to Brisbane’s West End where locals including many First Nations people face a mountain of challenges. “It’s food security, it’s the rental crisis, it’s the Covid crisis,” says Kylie Deen of West
FareShare meals bring a ‘taste of home’ to people in crisis Many people in our community face a bleak winter this year as the cost of living pushes the very essentials of life beyond their reach. A lack of affordable housing, steep rises in utilities, fuel and food are driving
FareShare meals bring a taste of home to flooded families When Echuca was flooded last October, the town was turned upside down and Echuca Neighbourhood House found itself at the forefront of food relief. “The floods hit and we were absolutely whacked,” said manager Sarah Peake. “We didn’t think food
How a FareShare meal can change the way someone feels FareShare aims for nothing less than transformation so when frontline charities use words like “life-changing” and “life-saving” to describe the impact of our meals, we know we are hitting the mark. Recently FareShare collected feedback from the organisations who hand
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.
