Food relief for our community

24 May Food relief for our community

Camperdown Food Bank is proudly run by Camperdown & District Community House (CCH) to support members of our community who find themselves in need of food relief. CCH is a registered agency with Food Bank Victoria and Warrnambool Food Share and offers this service to the entire Corangamite Shire region. Non-perishable food hampers and essential non-food items, such as nappies and personal hygiene products, are available. We partner with local community groups/organisations, service agencies, clubs, churches, and schools who are the access and distribution point for the community to this service.

Food security is still a pervasive issue for our communities. This has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and rise in cost of living;

Even prior to the global pandemic, Food Bank Victoria has reported that “with the rising cost of living, we’ve seen the demand for food relief continue to rise” (From Hunger Report 2019).

Unfortunately, the current demand for food relief in Corangamite has more than doubled since 2019.

The Victorian Government has reported that one in four Victorian families “were left to rely on unhealthy food due to home budget pressures” during COVID-19 lockdowns (Food systems and food security COVID-19 working group, VIC Health).

Our Food Bank emergency food relief service does not have any recurrent funding, and as such we are reliant on securing annual grants and sponsorship, along with donations and community contributions to keep this service operational. We cover all operational costs, including service management, volunteer training, purchasing boxes for food hampers and all non-perishable food and non-food items such as pet food and personal hygiene products also available via this service.

The Food Bank service is a program of CCH, is managed by our Coordinator and operated by a highly dedicated volunteer team.

In 2022, CCH distribution of food hampers and non-food essential items increased 164.4% since 2019, and 42.5% since 2021. The trend for the need for food relief appears to be steadily increasing year by year.

We are lucky to be partnered with Food Bank Victoria, where our funding goes a lot further than it would if we were relying on food items at supermarket shelf-prices. Our service provided over $80,000.00 equivalent value of food to Corangamite residents in 2022.

Neighbourhood Houses Victoria have calculated that the community value we have provided to Corangamite via our food bank service in 2022 to be valued at $142,916.00!

This is an incredible outcome for the communities of Corangamite, given that in the 2021-2022 financial year, the income we secured for the service / our expenditure was only $4,573.10. In the current financial year we have already seen our expenditure grow to $6,513.50 (as of 24/05/2023). Imagine what we could achieve for our community with greater and/or more secure ongoing funding!

The need for food relief continues to rise, and in order for us to sustain this service to meet this growing need, we need your help.

If you are in a position to donate to the Food Bank Service, please do so via direct deposit. You can become a regular donor/supporter by setting up regular donations, OR you can provide a once-off donation, both are welcome:

Account: Camperdown and District Community House
BSB: 083-561
Account number: 58-564-2024
Please make sure you include “Food Bank” in the transaction description.

All funding and donations secured for this service is spent purchasing non-perishable food items and essential non-food items, along with other essential products that sustain a healthy and functional service, such as pest-control and flat pack boxes for the food hampers.

Camperdown & District Food Bank is available through the following agencies/community organisations:

Corangamite Shire contact Belinda R 5593 7100

Cobden Uniting Church Op Shop contact Helen 0422 320 773

Camperdown Uniting Church 5593 2323

Camperdown Vinnies 0437 726 654

Camperdown Mental Health Service contact Leanne 5593 6000

Manifold Place Community Health contact Cheryl or Penny 5557 0900

Terang Mortlake Vinnies contact 0459 047 620

Timboon and District Healthcare contact Hayley 5558 6000

Simpson Community Centre contact Debbie 5594 3448

If you would like to become a new Service Agency Parnter to help distribute food relief hampers to yuor community, please contact us, we would love to hear from you. We are wanting to establish new parnterships with community groups, organisations, clubs and services in areas of the Corangamite SHire that currently do not have regular or ongoing access to food relief from our service.