Charity marks decade of food fight

BENDIGO Foodshare celebrated its tenth birthday last week with a party at its home base as volunteers and board members past and present marked the major milestone.

CEO Michelle Murphy said she was proud of the charity’s achievements but was mindful there was plenty more to do.

“We are acutely aware there are many, many people in our community facing food poverty,” she said.

“But today is about celebrating what our community has been able to achieve in the past 10 years.

“In those years, eight million kilograms of food have passed through our facility, that’s 8000 tonnes of food.”

“We have been able to rescue or source this from donations and other providers of food and get out to people in need and I think that is an amazing achievement.”

That effort was due to the support of partners and volunteers with Ms Murphy acknowledging their contribution.

“In the beginning, there were 20 food partners we worked with,” she said. “That has grown to 80 to 100 partners now that help to get food out.

“We are also driven by the power of our volunteers and it’s so wonderful to see some of them here today in their bright vests.

“Around 500 different volunteers have helped us achieve what we have been able to achieve in the last 10 years.”

One person, in particular, was singled out by Ms Murphy.

“I think we have to acknowledge, Cathie Steele,” she said. “Cathie has poured her heart and soul into making Bendigo Foodshare what it is today.

“Cathie was on the board back in 2014 and is still a board member today.”

Ms Steele was at the celebration and said she was proud of the commitment of the volunteers.

“Whether it’s 7am and minus two degrees, or 40 degrees in summer, people still come and work and make the system happen,” she said.

“With the people of Central Victoria behind us, we can do what we need to make a difference. To the current volunteers, you make our system work and our community stronger every day.”