PROGRESS was celebrated last week a construction officially started at the site of Bendigo Foodshare\u2019s new warehouse.<\/p>\n
Premier and Member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan was joined by Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards, City of Greater Bendigo mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf as well as the chair of Bendigo Foodshare, Sue Clarke in breaking ground at the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor so many in our community it\u2019s been tough, it\u2019s getting tougher and there\u2019s a growing need for the work that Foodshare does on behalf of our community,\u201d Ms Allan said.<\/p>\n
Bendigo Foodshare provides food to thousands of people throughout central Victoria each week, an accomplishment Ms Allan said makes the community stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019ve been so keen to provide the practical funding support but also to lend our support every single day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Construction of the warehouse is set to cost $3.8 million and is being financed with support from philanthropic, business, and government donations.<\/p>\n
Chair of Bendigo Foodshare, Sue Clarke, said it was amazing to see the sod being turned on a project that had been four years in planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally for us it\u2019s the end of a very long plan to be able to increase access to food for families that don\u2019t have that security to food for one reason or another,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Demand for support from Bendigo Foodshare has increased in recent years and the new warehouse could enable the organisation to increase their capacity up to three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see the amazing partnerships we have here, well just extrapolate that across the region, we work with 94 food distribution points across the region,\u201d Ms Clarke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get to work in Elmore, Loddon, and all over Kyneton and we know it makes a difference to people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The need for food relief in the region is so great at the moment Ms Clarke said one location serviced by Foodshare fortnightly can run out of supplies in hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be able to do that sort of thing regularly but at the moment we\u2019re stretched and we just don\u2019t have the room to store more food,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis [the warehouse] will provide so much more safe room for food to be stored and to be stored safely.<\/p>\n
Bendigo Foodshare\u2019s new warehouse and community food hub is scheduled to be completed by October next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PROGRESS was celebrated last week a construction officially started at the site of Bendigo Foodshare\u2019s new warehouse. Premier and Member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan was joined by Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards, City of Greater Bendigo mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf as well as the chair of Bendigo Foodshare, Sue Clarke in breaking ground […]<\/p>\n