Improved visa security brings AIRAR foodbank initiative to a close

AIREYS Inlet Rural Australian for Refugees has brought its long-running foodbank donation program to a close, with improved circumstances for local refugees meaning the once-essential support is no longer needed.

The group has supported the Welcome Place foodbank in Geelong with a monthly grocery donation for the past seven years.

But demand has eased in recent months, with most of the refugees and asylum seekers supported by the foodbank now holding permanent visa and work or social security rights.

AIRAR’s Rosita Vila said the group had completed 85 grocery shops and donated more than $100,000 in groceries and gift cards to the Welcome Place over the course of the program.

“Fortunately, most refugees and asylum seekers that the Welcome Place in Geelong supports now have their permanent visas and/or work and social security rights,” she said.

“So the dire need for food supplies has dwindled, which is a far cry from those early days when the foodbank filled such a desperate need.”

Ms Vila described it as a “mammoth effort” and thanked volunteers Jules Rolfe, Margaret Jacobs and Liz Steele who coordinated the program.

“Each month, they would check what the Welcome Place Foodbank needed and drive to the supermarkets, physically select and pay for the food, then on a Friday in the month, take it to the Welcome Place,” Ms Vila said.

“Such a well-oiled machine which started as a simple idea of collecting groceries and delivering them in Geelong.”

She said the program’s longevity was made possible by the generosity of local donors.

It comes as AIRAR also wraps up its Aid for Afghans program, which provided financial support to families at risk under the Taliban.

Ms Vila said last month the initiative had “fulfilled its purpose”, with families now safe, resettled or able to support themselves, meaning ongoing assistance is no longer required.