Feeding those in need

A DESIRE to help their community has resulted in something of a milestone for Bendigo business owners Jason and Lindsay Tod, with the value of meals donated to a local soup kitchen recently topping the $10,000 mark.

The Tods, franchisees of the Bendigo group of Domino’s pizza outlets, have been giving pizzas on a monthly basis to the ARC church’s weekly soup kitchen since the COVID pandemic as part of Domino’s Feed-the-Knead program.

As a gesture of recognition and appreciation for their contributions, the church invited the Tods and their two children to a recent dinner and made a small presentation to them.

But according to Mrs Tod, she and Jason had no idea of the tally until told by a church representative.

“We haven’t really kept track of it,” Mrs Tod said. “It adds up and you don’t think about it; it’s just something we do as part of our everyday business.

“One of the things we’re really passionate about is supporting the local community, and the soup kitchen is one of the things we do,” Mrs Tod said.

“It’s a lot of money, a lot of pizzas and a lot of people we’ve supported through the soup kitchen.”

The Tods have also helped various other groups and families through Feed-the-Knead.

“It can be something small or it can be something big like the soup kitchen,” Mrs Tod said. “We’ve donated pizzas in all sorts of capacities to all sorts of people and groups over the years.

“Wherever there’s a need in the local community, they can approach us.”

The Tods have set up their own franchise website, dominosregionalvic.com, where anyone seeking support through Feed-the-Knead can make a submission.