Fifteen grassroots community organisations providing food relief, outreach services for vulnerable people, sustainability projects and other community services will share in $150,000 through Jemena's 2023 Community Grants program.
This year's grant recipients announced today were selected from almost 150 applicants within Jemena's electricity and gas distribution areas in Victoria and New South Wales.
Jemena Corporate Affairs General Manager Ian Israelsohn said a third of this year's grant recipients were delivering food relief programs in response to cost of living pressures.
"We received a record number of community grant applications this year with almost 150 community organisations applying for a grant – this is more than double the 63 applications we received last year," Mr Israelsohn said.
"With many people experiencing increased cost of living pressures over the past 12 months we saw an increase in community organisations applying for grants to support food relief programs.
"In response to this need we are pleased to support a range of community organisations to deliver food-relief programs including: a dinner night for children and young people living in public housing, a daily breakfast club for primary school students, and regular food outreach programs for vulnerable people.
"Through our environmental impact grants we are also proud to support innovative projects building greener, more sustainable local neighbourhoods and communities. This includes repair workshops through the Bower Reuse and Repair Cooperative, supporting stage two of the Restoring Ivanhoe Floodplain project in Victoria, and supporting the Urban Hum Tiny Forest in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales."
Since the program's launch in 2019, Jemena has awarded over $650,000 in local grants to 66 groups supporting vulnerable people, critical emergency relief, mental and physical health, education and other benefits for thousands of Australians
