Feed Me’s community support continues

FEED ME Bellarine’s volunteers are working overtime to provide food relief for people in need and co-founder Lana Purcell is calling for community and philanthropic support to keep afloat

Feed Me Bellarine celebrated its fourth birthday last month and Mrs Purcell said the charity, which now has more than 500 active volunteers, continues to stay alive due to their “we don’t give up” attitude.

“We could never have imagined it would turn into what it has,” she said.

“[Feed Me Bellarine] is growing due to need and due to acceptance.

“We are more needed now than ever because the cost of living is really affecting people it’s never affected before.

“We are getting busier by the day, and everyone is feeling the pinch and are more vulnerable.”

Since launching in 2019, Feed Me Geelong, Bellarine and Surf Coast has donated more than 1.5 million meals to people in need, saving 128 tonnes of food from landfill.

Mrs Purcell said hundreds of people visited the Bellarine, Geelong and Surf Coast stores daily to collect basic items, while Feed Me Bellarine volunteers attended more than 2,000 homes, hotels and caravan parks on a weekly basis to drop off food packages to people facing food insecurity.

“Many people have been kicked out of their houses or been victims of domestic violence and are now in hotels or caravan parks.

“Those people who are getting displaced are absolutely front of mind, particularly if children are involved.

“Can we keep up with demand? We try, but we always run out of food.”We have a waiting list as well and people come off when they get a job or find their feet a little bit.”

Mrs Purcell said Feed Me Bellarine remained operational thanks to monetary donations from community members. She said Feed Me had also started providing catering services as a revenue stream for business’ longevity while showcasing wasted foods’ potential.

“We aren’t government funded or council funded, we have the ability to stay alive because there are anonymous people in the community who are giving us large sums of money.

“Any financial or food donations are always welcome.

“If people want to hold food collections at their schools, then that would also be amazing. Dry goods in particular are hard to source in a rescue environment, so they’d be extremely helpful.”

She also said people could volunteer for “one hour or thirty hours”.

“The smallest amount of time can make a huge difference.

“We will just keep doing what we can to make everything available for our community who are in need.”

For more information head to www.feedme.org.au/