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Melbourne’s food banks say they are overstretched and under-resourced in the lead up to Christmas, with one service in the inner north grappling with a 1200 per cent surge in demand.
Collingwood drop-in community centre and food relief hub The Wellington was providing groceries to approximately 40 people a week at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. As of last month, the charity was handing out fresh produce and frozen meals to more than 500 people every seven days.
The line for Collingwood’s Wellington food bank can stretch around the corner. Credit: Wayne Taylor
Over the past year, the service has gone from distributing 7400 kilograms of fresh produce and 700 frozen meals a month to just over 12,000 kilograms of fresh produce and 2000 frozen meals.
“We’re seeing more people turn up that would probably call themselves middle class,” manager Chris Sprake said. “They’re saying they need to choose between food and rent, and so they’re coming to us for food.”
The Wellington – which has three part-time staff to coordinate the weekly distribution of bread, fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs – received a $40,000 state government grant earlier this year. But Sprake said that’s not nearly enough money to keep the charity, which also provides free allied health services to people living in the Collingwood, Richmond and Fitzroy housing estates, afloat.
That’s because the food bank and community centre operates on an annual budget of $300,000. The charity is due to celebrate its 20th anniversary in February. Instead of preparing birthday celebrations, however, Sprake and his staff are bracing for permanent closure. He is now calling on the state government to provide ongoing, long-term funding to ensure the service stays afloat.
Manager Chris Sprake stands with crates of bread, carrots and fruit. The food, distributed on Thursdays, always runs out within a few hours. Credit: Wayne Taylor
“Every day, we see the people who will be doing it harder if we’re not here. All of those sessions will be pushed back onto the public health sector, or they just won’t happen. People from refugee and migrant backgrounds might not trust government services, but they trust our networks.
“We are the people caring for our community. Now we just need some people to look after us as well.”
Collingwood public housing resident Valentina, who preferred not to give her surname for privacy reasons, said she had lived near The Wellington for about a decade and knew many single mothers who had used its services to make ends meet.
“It would be good if the government found the money for places like this,” Valentina said. “We have to look after the less fortunate.”
The Greens MP for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri, said hundreds of people in her electorate would go hungry if The Wellington closed its doors.
“More and more people experiencing disadvantage and poverty count on The Wellington,” she said. “It would be devastating if our community lost these life-saving services because Labor didn’t see it as a priority.”
The Wellington is not the only Victorian food bank doing it tough. CareNET, in Melbourne’s northeastern suburbs, introduced a waiting list for the first time this month and is struggling to find a new warehouse to keep up with demand.
Local Liberal MP Nicole Werner said the government “needs to do better and step up to the cost-of-living crisis that is hurting Victorian families”.
A government spokeswoman said no Victorian should have to worry about having enough to eat.
“We’re continuing to invest in a range of community programs and organisations that help those who need it most,” the spokeswoman said. “We understand the pressures being faced by households and we’ll keep working to drive down the cost of living with initiatives like free kinder, capped public transport fares and sport vouchers for kids.”
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