Help feed people in need during Winter Food Drive

BENDIGO Foodshare’s Annual Winter Food Drive is back for 2025 with the aim of collecting ten thousand kilograms of food by 31 August and an added focus this year on hard-to-source pantry staples including pasta, rice, UHT milk, canned foods and breakfast cereals.

For the next six weeks, bright yellow City of Greater Bendigo donation bins will be located front and centre at all major supermarkets across Bendigo.

Supporters can also donate via long-time partner Bendigo Toyota, which will be hosting drive-through drop-offs and food collection points at Bendigo Marketplace.

Bendigo Foodshare CEO Michelle Murphy said while the goal is ambitious, she expects it to be matched by the generosity of the community.

“Last year, we reached our 10,000 kilogram target, double what we’d ever collected before,” she said.

“It’s proof that when people come together, incredible things happen.”

The Winter Food Drive is a lifeline for the more than 95 local food relief organisations that Bendigo Foodshare supports.

Every week, they collectively help feed about 15,500 people.

“Winter is a really difficult time for many,” Ms Murphy said.

“With the rising cost of living and energy bills, families are being forced to make impossible choices, like whether to heat their home or put food on the table.

“That’s why this campaign matters so much.

“Pantry staples are absolutely essential.

“These are the basics people rely on to make a meal, but they’re surprisingly hard for us to source locally.

“(So) even just picking up a couple of extra items during your next grocery shop and dropping them into the specially marked yellow donation bins can make a real difference.

“Every item helps and every act of kindness puts food on the table of someone in need.”

All donations of non-perishable food are welcome and can also be dropped off directly at Bendigo Foodshare’s warehouse at 277 Breen Street, Golden Square, between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday.

“We especially encourage businesses, schools, clubs and community groups to host their own food drives,” Ms Murphy said.

“It’s easy to get started, just grab a box and download posters from our website.

“Behind every can of soup or box of cereal is someone in our community who is doing it tough.

“Your donation might be small to you, but it’s everything to them.”

According to the 2019 Healthy Loddon Campaspe Active Living Census, almost one in 10 households in Greater Bendigo considered themselves food insecure, or not having enough to eat.

In some areas such as Long Gully, West Bendigo, Ironbark, North Bendigo and California Gully, this increased to around one in five households.

The figure was particularly high among specific populations such as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, unemployed people, and those with very low household incomes.

The Census stated that people who experience food insecurity are more likely to report poorer health, be overweight and have unhealthy diets.

More information regarding the Winter Food Drive can be found on the Bendigo Foodshare website.