With the re-emergence of restrictions and uncertainty in the local community, Maitland City Council encourages any individuals or families who are impacted and requiring any level of assistance to seek out one of the many nearby services that form part of the Food Assistance Network.
With the re-emergence of restrictions and uncertainty in the local community, Maitland City Council encourages any individuals or families who are impacted and requiring any level of assistance to seek out one of the many nearby services that form part of the Food Assistance Network.
Established in April 2020 as part of Council's COVID-19 Response and Recovery initiatives, the Food Assistance Network is made up of over 13 local organisations who are providing free and low cost meals, hampers, parcels and reduced cost groceries to people who may need a little help, particularly due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.
Manager Community and Recreation Laurie D'Angelo-Edmonds says, ' We believe this project is of the utmost importance to our community, especially due to the COVID conditions we currently find ourselves in.'
The objective of the Food Assistance Network is to limit the potential strain and hardship our community may be facing, and to raise awareness and connect our community to services and support that they may not have had to access before.
'We all need assistance from time to time and we want to ensure our community is connected and supported through a range of local services on offer including cultural, disability and aged care services, child, youth and family support, food relief and more, to ensure all our local community has all they need during difficult times they may be facing now and beyond COVID.'
Recently, the Network has received commendation from the NSW Local Government Professionals for excellence in Community Partnerships regarding the coordination of emergency food relief services in the Maitland area. In June 2021, the program was the Community Partnerships category award winner for populations under 100,000 in NSW
'We were extremely honoured to receive this award on behalf of the organisations that form part of the network. The staff and volunteers do a wonderful job of supporting our community when they need it the most,' says D'Angelo-Edmonds.
Those interested in contacting a Food Assistance Network service can find the full list of suppliers and their details on the Food Assistance Network page.
