Geelong council serves up more funds for food relief

THE City of Greater Geelong council will provide $50,000 to the Geelong Food Relief Centre to begin immediately buying fresh food for distribution to people in need.
At last week’s meeting, councillors agreed to the funding allocation as part of $1.5 million in business and community support measures aimed at helping the Greater Geelong community through the coronavirus pandemic.
Geelong Food Relief Centre will buy and store the food, which will then be distributed by welfare agencies throughout the region.
The funds aim to help local agencies meet the rising need for food relief in the region as the devastating financial impacts of the pandemic continue to take hold.
In making the $50,000 commitment, the council also resolved to advocate to the state government for a $100,000 contribution towards food relief for the Greater Geelong community.
This short-term measure comes on the back of the council’s allocation of $1 million in the 2019-20 budget to assist in the long-term sustainability of food relief services in the region.
The first step in that process has been the commissioning of an independent Food Assistance Report, which is due to come before the council in May. It will examine how the city can support and strengthen the existing network of selfless volunteers distributing food through the various agencies in Greater Geelong.
It will also look at the feasibility of the council leasing a site for use as a food relief distribution centre and budgeting a yearly sum to help a third party operate the venue.
“With demand rising in Melbourne, fresh food is becoming more difficult for relief agencies here in Greater Geelong to source through donations,” Geelong mayor Stephanie Asher said.
“Added to this, many of the local agencies are facing challenges operating in the current environment because their wonderful volunteers are mostly in the vulnerable age category for COVID-19.
“This $50,000 contribution from the council will help keep up with the demand, which tragically is likely to rise over the coming months as more people find themselves struggling to put food on the table through no fault of their own. We really hope the money will help local families get through this unbelievably tough time.
“A big thanks to the many food relief and welfare agencies in our region who are doing their absolute best to help those in need in very difficult circumstances. Alongside this funding, councillors will also be looking at how we can support the agencies in getting the food to the people who need it.”
Anyone suffering hardship and wanting to seek relief from rates, fees and charges owed to the City of Greater Geelong can email [email protected] or phone 5272 5272.