THE Drysdale Family Support Foodbank is calling on the local community to help raise $30,000 so it can continue to give people the assistance they desperately need.<\/p>\n
Coordinator Jake Hogendoorn said community support had been amazing since the start of the pandemic, but with the continued increase in demand, a lower grant allocation and the continued closure of their op shop, they needed help to continue to assist people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Drysdale Family Support Foodbank continues to support Bellarine Peninsula families by providing regular food parcels to those experiencing food insecurity,\u201d Mr Hogendoorn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for food support increased significantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe demand in 2020 rose by 22 per cent when compared to 2019, and has remained high through 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hogendoorn said 2020 saw a wonderful response from Give Where You Live and the Anthony Costa Foundation, but the latter wasn\u2019t matched this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive Where You Live fast tracked funding grants in 2020 for those organisations providing food assistance and this was matched by the Anthony Costa Foundation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in 2021 the pandemic has continued to impact local lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive Where You Live has again supported Drysdale Family Support with a significant grant to help us continue to support families in need.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, the matching grant was not received this year and The Second Chance Op Shop, which supports the Foodbank has been closed a lot, due to lockdowns, meaning it has made no profit to support the Foodbank.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hogendoorn said the Foodbank, which operates out of the Drysdale Community Church, was asking the Bellarine community to help it raise $30,000 over the next 10 months to meet the budget that would allow them to continue to give people the assistance they desperately required and deserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time we are running well over budget and really need more support to continue to provide food for Bellarine Peninsula residents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said non-perishable food donations would still continue to be welcome and could reduce the demand on finances.<\/p>\n
\u201cDonations of money to help buy the food we regularly purchase would be wonderful,\u201d Mr Hogendoorn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be a one off donation or a regular amount over a period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donations can be made to Drysdale Family Support, Bendigo Bank, BSB 633 000, ACCOUNT 118464429.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE Drysdale Family Support Foodbank is calling on the local community to help raise $30,000 so it can continue to give people the assistance they desperately need. Coordinator Jake Hogendoorn said community support had been amazing since the start of the pandemic, but with the continued increase in demand, a lower grant allocation and the […]<\/p>\n