The Christ Church Community Meals Program is one of 13 local community organisations that will benefit from grants worth up to $20,000 from the Give Where You Live Foundation.
The program, which supports the most vulnerable in the community through free breakfasts and emergency food packages, will receive $7200 to provide at least two pieces of fresh fruit with meals.
Run entirely by volunteers, Christ Church Community Meals Program has provided access to nutritious food to those in need for more than 30 years.
Christ Church Community Meals Coordinator Jan McGowan said her organisation was “incredibly grateful” for the Give Where You Live funding, which would help ensure people in the community had access to healthy food.
“Fresh fruit is a fundamental requirement in any healthy diet,” Ms McGowan said.
“We can now have regular access to fruits like bananas, which are crucial for many of the people who visit us and have poor dental health because they are softer and easier to eat compared to fruits like apples. And while we regularly receive donations of fruit, rarely are rescued bananas suitable to be served as fresh fruit.
“This grant comes at a critical time as the number of people seeking food relief through our Community Meals Program continues to increase. This grant is not just making a difference; it’s making it possible.”
The grants, announced on Friday (June 28), totalled more than $215,000 and focused on the key areas of food security and homelessness assistance.
Other recipients included Drysdale Family Support ($20,000), Lazarus Community Centre ($20,000), The Geelong Food Relief Centre ($20,000), The Outpost ($19,000) and 3216 Connect ($4000).
The grants have taken the total amount of funding provided by Give Where You Live to community organisations to more than $1 million for the 2023-24 financial year.
Foundation CEO Bill Mithen said the impact of the grants will help provide much needed support to food relief and homelessness agencies across the Geelong region.
“As the cost of groceries and living expenses continue to rise, so does the number of people in our community reaching out to food relief and homelessness agencies for support,” he said
“These latest grants will support 13 local community organisations… (and) are only possible thanks to our generous donors, corporate partners, thousands of workplace givers and other supporters and we thank them for helping the Foundation to create a fairer G21 region.”
