{"id":103032,"date":"2025-09-02T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/?p=103032"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T01:17:07","slug":"record-figures-at-linton-food-relief-outlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/record-figures-at-linton-food-relief-outlet\/","title":{"rendered":"Record figures at Linton food relief outlet"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE Linton Emergency Relief Pantry supplied basic food essentials to more than one hundred people in a single week for the first time earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The rapid increase followed about two months of 80-plus visits a week, which itself was much higher than the historical average of about 60 people weekly.<\/p>\n

But while acknowledging that many people are struggling, pantry manager Daryll Lees does not put the rise in demand down only to more families falling on hard times.<\/p>\n

Instead, he believes it is because of word spreading about the pantry and what it can offer \u2013 particularly since it gained charity status and secured several constant contributors.<\/p>\n

“I believe we’re filling a need that has already been there,” Mr Lees said. “But we’re still seeing a minimum of two or three new people a week.”<\/p>\n

The pantry is located in the Linton Community Hub in Sussex Street and is open from 10am to 2pm Thursday to Sunday.<\/p>\n

It offers a wide range of basic, staple household grocery requirements including milk and bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, UHT milk varieties, rice, pasta, cans of soup and condiments.<\/p>\n

It also receives weekly deliveries of frozen pizzas, along with occasional treats.<\/p>\n

Mr Lees said 240 kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetables was being given to people each week, made up of an equal volume of 120 kilograms of each.<\/p>\n

He said use of the pantry had been “patchy” until it secured its registered charity status and locked in several regular donation deliveries about 18 months ago.<\/p>\n

Volunteers travel to the Foodbank site in Wendouree to pick up stock every week, while Geelong Foodshare and the Ballarat Soup Kitchen make regular contributions.<\/p>\n

Individuals with connections or involvement in the food industry also make occasional donations.<\/p>\n

While Mr Lees said the need had always existed, he acknowledged that many Australians were suddenly finding themselves in difficulty \u2013 something he had never witnessed before.<\/p>\n

“The world didn’t get nasty in four weeks,” he said, “but it’s the working poor. Many of them have jobs but they’re just not making it.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of pressure on people.”<\/p>\n

Mr Lees said the pantry’s customers ranged from families with young children to even single men and women.<\/p>\n

He said anyone was welcome to visit the pantry, and its motto was simple.<\/p>\n

“Take what you need, donate what you can,” he said.<\/p>\n

The pantry’s Facebook page is at facebook.com\/groups\/1362084777521743<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE Linton Emergency Relief Pantry supplied basic food essentials to more than one hundred people in a single week for the first time earlier this month. The rapid increase followed about two months of 80-plus visits a week, which itself was much higher than the historical average of about 60 people weekly. But while acknowledging […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":103035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-103032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRecord figures at Linton food relief outlet - Golden Plains Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Linton food pantry has served a record 100+ people in one week, as more families seek basic food essentials amid rising costs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/record-figures-at-linton-food-relief-outlet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Record figures at Linton food relief outlet - 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