Local organisation supporting people experiencing life-inhibiting crises such as food insecurity or homelessness have shared in $420,000 in grans from the Give Where You Live Foundation.
The foundation awarded its 2023 Survive & Thrive grants, worth up to $40,000 each, to 15 organisations.
Bellarine Living and Learning Centre is one of the recipient organisations, receiving $30,000 to employ a project co-ordinator to continue developing food security programs in the 3219 postcode.
The centre’s services have been invaluable to community members such as Melissa, whose husband was out of work for over 12 months during the pandemic.
With four children under the age of 11 to look after, Melissa said things would have been very different for her family without the Bellarine Living and Learning Centre’s food bank.
“We were left to rely on our savings; we couldn’t afford petrol to drive to another food bank,” she said.
“The food bank here was a place where I could go to get fresh veggies and groceries for my family and have a chat with everyone there.”
Two years later, Melissa and her family are thriving thanks to that support, and Melissa now volunteers at the centre’s food bank to help others in need.
“I feel blessed that this service is available, it has made us stronger as a family”, Melissa said.
“I now volunteer here and it’s a real community that helps each other.”
Give Where You Live acting chief executive Meg Price said the grants would have a wide impact on the community.
“As the cost of groceries and living expenses rise, so does the number of people in our community reaching out to food relief agencies for support with food assistance,” Ms Price said.
“Give Where You Live Foundation has deep relationships with community organisations across the region and we continue to see increasing levels of demand in the community services and emergency relief sector, with some agencies reporting an increase in demand of 239 per cent since 2020-21.
“We estimate these grants will provide over 25,000 meals to support food relief and reduce food insecurity.”
