Community fund helps food bank

THE Portarlington Golf Club has gone above and beyond with its Community Contribution Fund this year to help the vital work of a food bank in the area.

Food Assist 3223 has grown rapidly in recent years, with visits up 43 per cent in the year to date.

The food bank determined it needed more funding to keep going for the rest of the year, particularly through the high-demand winter months.

President Prue Drever and her team worked out a $3,500 grant would be enough and applied to the fund for that amount, but Portarlington Golf Club found the case so imporant and compelling that they provided $7,000.

Portarlington Golf Club chief executive officer Michael Phillips said Food Assist 3223 was “an incredibly important organisation to the wellbeing and comradeship of our entire community”.

“We’re not in the habit of giving more money than is requested, but the work Food Assist 3223 does around Port, Indented Head and St Leonards is nothing short of remarkable and they deserve our full support.

“So we’re proud and delighted to be able to play a small part in helping Prue’s team continue to deliver a service we collectively wish wasn’t needed, but that has become critical to so many in our neighbourhood.”

Ms Drever said her committee and volunteers were overjoyed by news of the grant.

“We just want to say a really huge `thank you’ to the golf club and its members for the support – to get double what we asked for is not at all what we expected, but it’s an enormous boost for us all.

“It’s a huge thing for us because it gives us security. We’re entirely run by volunteers and get no government funding, so we rely exclusively on community support and the generosity of people around town.

“So a grant of this size enables us to not only provide food for so many people, but to actually think about planning for what’s 12 months ahead.

“It also means we can focus on the core job rather than running around and trying to fund everything as we go.

“This is like winning Tattslotto for us – it takes that worry away, enables us to feed extra people and also for things we have to pay for that going up like they are for everyone, like power and heating bills.”

According to a Foodbank Australia Hunger Report, more than two million households experienced “severe food insecurity” in 2022.

Ms Drever said many people in need still did not reach out “because of the stigma still attached to asking for help”.

“It’s terrible, but with the way the economy is these days and with the cost of everything in life really just soaring, we really need to `normalise’ asking for help because so many people genuinely need it through absolutely no fault of their own.”

The Portarlington Golf Club has given charitable support of more than $125,000 over the past four financial years, including more than $30,000 via its Community Contribution Fund.

Food Assist 3223 is open every Wednesday from 1-3pm at the St Andrews Uniting Church Hall, 111 Newcombe Street, Portarlington.

For more information, phone 0493 398 160 or email [email protected]