Communities facing food insecurity will have increased access to healthy food thanks to grants awarded through the Allan Labor Government's Community Food Relief program.
Minister for Carers and Volunteers Ros Spence today announced four organisations will receive grants for projects to improve coordination of the supply and distribution of food across 26 local government areas, supporting more than 400 charity partners and getting more food to communities in need.
The Labor Government's $4.5 million Community Food Relief Program includes Coordination Grants announced today, and Local Grants to be announced in coming weeks, helping respond to rising demand for food relief amid cost-of-living pressures experienced by individuals and families.
Geelong Food Relief Centre will implement a new distribution model to manage and deliver food from Geelong across western Victoria, including to Horsham, Colac and the Golden Plains Shire.
OzHarvest will establish a new warehouse and distribution centre to increase food delivery efficiency and support an additional 12 organisations across south-east metropolitan Melbourne.
Meanwhile SecondBite's funding boost will be put towards the purchase of a 10-pallet truck to expand deliveries of rescued food to regional communities in need.
The Regional Food Security Alliance's grant will see the organisation formalise its partnership with OzHarvest and SecondBite, increasing efficiencies and coordination efforts to reach more communities in regional and rural areas.
Since 2020, the Labor Government has invested more than $56 million to strengthen the food relief system in Victoria including support for six regional foodshares. In addition, $10 million has been provided to Foodbank Victoria to support the establishment of community food centres in Morwell and Ballarat.
As stated by Minister for Carers and Volunteers Ros Spence
"We're enabling collaboration between food relief providers right across Victoria, to reduce duplication, increase efficiency, pool resources, and ultimately - get more food to people in need."
"By supporting these four organisations to better coordinate their efforts, we're also supporting the hundreds of charity partners and the people who rely on their services for fresh and healthy food."
