Geelong Food Relief Centre

The Outpost Inc. is one of our 55+ agency partners dedicated to making a difference! Nick (pictured here with Lisa) picks up these Friday night dinners every fortnight. This week, he also received over 160kg of blankets, generously donated by one of our amazing volunteers.

Our Friday cooking team whipped up client favorites, and Nick couldn't help but exclaim, “Wow, they are going to love this week’s meal – curried sausages and hearty pasta!”

The Outpost offers dinner 365 days a year to those in need, and Geelong Food Relief is proud to deliver from one to many. Together, we’re making a real impact. 💪❤️

Thank-you to everyone who has donated so far in our ‘Lend a hand, give a can’ food drive through Geelong Regional Libraries . This week we collected 74kg or over 200 cans. You can donate this Winter at any one of their 19 branches.

Be part of the solution. Helping to create food security for the Greater Geelong Community.

The need for food relief is escalating due to the rising cost of living, the number of working poor families has significantly increased, extracted from Geelong Community Foundation Vital signs report. Donate today at any Geelong Regional Libraries branch.

Support Geelong Food Relief: Every Donation Counts!

Geelong Food Relief supplies food to over 55 agencies in the Greater Geelong region, ensuring that thousands of people in need receive nutritious meals each week.

Join us in making a difference. Your donation can help us continue to support our community and those who need it.

Click here to donate: https://geelongfoodrelief.org/donate

Strengthen Our Community with Your Donation

Geelong Food Relief Centre is the heart of the emergency food system in the Greater Geelong Region. We source and collect nutritious food, partnering with over 55 frontline charities to feed more than 20,000 people each week.

This month, your generous donation will have double the impact thanks to our amazing partners! 🌟💙

We're calling on businesses, organisations, and individuals to support our Giving Month Appeal and donate before June 30th. Together, we can continue our vital work in your community.

Click here to make a change!: https://geelongfoodrelief.org/donate

Every dollar makes a difference. Join us in strengthening the Geelong community

It's Giving Month at Geelong Food Relief! We are Geelong’s food hub, working towards a food-secure future by delivering aid to many. By donating, you're supporting 55 affiliated charities through our bulk distribution and helping feed 45,000 individuals through our mini-mart service. Our impact has grown by 30% this year, but with the escalating cost of living, the need for food relief is greater than ever. Your support is crucial for creating long-term, sustainable change. Please donate before June 30. Together, we can make a difference!

Click here to donate 👉: https://geelongfoodrelief.org/donate

Last night, we had the honor of attending the Annual Grant Reception and Expo! ✨

We are thrilled to announce that we are a 2024-2025 Grant Partner! 🎉 Among the other inspiring recipients in the food relief space are our incredible partners Samaritan House usegeelong, , , and The Outpost Inc. Together, we are making a significant impact.

A heartfelt thank you to all the donors. Your generosity is driving long-term social change and uplifting our community. 🙏❤️

Geelong Food Relief is closed this coming Monday the 10th of June for the long weekend. This includes our warehouse and two mini-mart locations.

We work with a strong network of partner organizations like SecondBite to create food security and sustainable long-term social change. Thank you, we couldn’t do what we do without you.

Meet Chris, a dedicated volunteer at Geelong Food Relief for the past year and a half. Now retired, he supervises the kitchen once a week, starting at 7 AM, to ensure that all homemade meals are both healthy and delicious. 'Retirement has given me a chance to give back to the community,' Chris shares. His commitment is making a real difference!

Farah from Iraq has been volunteering at Geelong Food Relief for over two years, dedicating five hours every week to improving her language skills and supporting her community. 'We are all like a big family here,' she says. 'I came to this country with just my family, knowing no one else. The warmth and welcome I've received here have truly made me feel at home.

Geelong Food Relief takes this moment to thank all our volunteers for their support in connecting people through food.

From Syria to Australia, Marwa, a dedicated mother of two, has embraced her new community by volunteering at Geelong Food Relief. Each week, she contributes 3-5 hours, sorting and distributing food despite language barriers. Her commitment shines through on her radio show, "Oxygen with Marwa," where she connects and supports the Arabic-speaking community. Marwa's journey of learning English and bridging cultures illustrates the incredible impact of resilience and giving back.

This we are giving the spotlight to our 176 volunteers who help us in our efforts to create change through food.

As part of Geelong Food Relief hosted a BBQ to celebrate our 180 hardworking volunteer team. We are proud of the amazing community contribution our volunteers make and the sense of connectedness and inclusion the volunteers show to each other. Our volunteers are our lifeblood, we couldn’t do what we do without them. 💜🌟

This week we are celebrating National Volunteer Week 🙌

Today we are hosting a BBQ to celebrate our amazing team of 180 volunteers.

Please note our Lt Smythe St mini-mart is closed today, May the 21st from 12noon to celebrate our volunteers. Our Morgan St mini-mart in North Geelong is open as normal until 7pm tonight.

Thank-you, we couldn’t do what we do without you.

Pictured: Volunteers Chris, Julie & Neil.

Due to Volunteer Week Celebrations - our Lt Smythe St Mini-mart will be closed at 12noon today (Tuesday 21st May).

🌟Give back to the community and join our amazing team of 180 volunteers!🌟

Geelong Food Relief is seeking afternoon Volunteer Drivers to rescue and deliver food to partnering organizations. We can tailor the shifts to suit your availability.

Please contact us via our website https://geelongfoodrelief.org/volunteering

Thrilled to announce $1.5 million in funding for six Regional Food Relief Hubs - including Geelong Food Relief Centre! 🍎🥦🥕🍌

As the cost of living rises, it’s important now more than ever to support families and households to reduce food insecurity.

The team at the Geelong Food Relief Centre provide vital support to those most vulnerable in Geelong’s northern suburbs, and provide food to over 60 organisations across our region.

Thank you to the team, and all of the volunteers, for your incredible work and dedication to our community.

Geelong Food Relief has 5 refrigerated vans on the road 5 days a week, rescuing and delivering nutritious food to those in need. We supply over 55 agencies in the Greater Geelong Region.

One of those is Bell Park North Primary School. With the rising cost of living pressures, more people are suffering from food insecurity. Jump on our webpage today to see how you can help.

www.geelongfoodrelief.org

Oh, the love! A big shout out and heartfelt thanks to the gorgeous person who hand-crafted these beautiful beanies for us to hand out to customers at our Lt Smythe St mini-mart ❤️

Your benevolent gesture helped many keep warm during the cold winter months!

💕

At Geelong Food Relief we are working to create food security through a strong network of local partners. We work with the team at the Geelong Botanic Gardens and the City of Greater Geelong to nourish the community. All of the produce grown at the Botanical gardens is planted by local students. It is seasonal, sustainable, organic, and most importantly delicious! The crops are harvested by a team of dedicated volunteers and are then delivered to Geelong Food Relief and distributed to our 55 agency partners or put in our mini-marts for use by our clients.

Amazing support from Bev McArthur MP. Thank you 🙏

📈Good Morning Victoria,

The cost of living is really starting to bite.

News.com.au is reporting that “more than half of Australians are skipping meals due to cost-of-living crisis.”

This is devastating news.

In the lead up to the budget, I’ve called on the Government to ensure organisations which provide emergency food and supplies to our most vulnerable receive multi-year funding.

One such organisation that I’ve previously advocated for is the Geelong Food Relief Centre (GFRC), which provides over 14,500 food insecure families with emergency food relief. Unfortunately, fantastic organisations like this often get short-term funding not multi-year funding. This means that they are left waiting months before crucial cash enters their accounts, making the planning, organising and delivering of their services virtually impossible.

The government has the chance to make a difference in this upcoming budget, by providing the GRFC and organisations just like them with multiyear funding so that they can provide the emergency assistance that many in our community need.

Welcome to Geelong, , we wish you every success! We’re also delighted you’ve welcomed us as a partner. By supporting Geelong Food Relief you’re supporting a network of organizations providing nutritious food and facilitating long-term social change.

Geelong Food Relief Centre will be closed tomorrow for Anzac Day. We'll re-open on Friday at 10am.

A quick reminder, Geelong Food Relief Centre will be closed on Thursday the 25th of April for Anzac Day.

We’ll reopen on Friday the 26th of April.

A quick reminder, Geelong Food Relief Centre will be closed on Thursday the 25th of April for Anzac Day.

We’ll reopen on Friday the 26th of April.

Geelong Food Relief welcomes corporate volunteer groups. Here’s some of the team from CitiPower and Powercor Australia from a recent volunteer day.

Mandy and her colleagues shared their thoughts on the experience:

“Not only was it a great team building exercise but the highlight of the day for me personally was seeing so many wonderful volunteers happily working together to create such an amazing space for people to come and do their shopping. I loved how many amazing local businesses support this fantastic place. Bravo to all the team here. I look forward to volunteering my time again soon.”

“Help is not limited to only certain individuals and their circumstances but the Geelong Food Relief Centre endeavours to help the whole community.”

Thank-you to all our volunteers, we couldn’t do what we do without you!

We’re thrilled to partner up with the friendly team at FareShare to support the distribution of cooked, nutritious meals to the community. FareShare is a charity organisation that has been cooking free, nutritious meals for people doing it tough since 2001.

FareShare transforms rescued, donated, and homegrown food into millions of delicious, nutritious meals that feed with dignity to Australians experiencing hardship. Through collaborations with organisations like FareShare, we are able to carry out our mission to create food security through a strong network of like-minded organisations and provide nutritious meals to the Greater Geelong community.

Learn more about our collaboration with FareShare here:
https://www.fareshare.net.au/latest-news/fareshare-dignity-nutrition-geelong-food-relief/

FareShare are an amazing organisation who work closely with Geelong Food Relief Centre to provide loads and loads of cooked meals, rescued product, friendship and a fabulous newsletter- Enjoy the read!

FareShare's quarterly newsletter The Wash Up came out yesterday. For those not on our mailing list, don’t miss our feature stories on:

👩‍🍳 FareShare chefs and volunteers returning to the revamped Abbotsford kitchen,
🙏 a heartfelt thank you to Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools and Melbourne Farmers Markets for sharing their kitchen space with us during the redevelopment,
🚗 FareShare visits to Reservoir Neighbourhood House and Geelong Food Relief Centre,
🍝 FareShare’s pioneering Meals for the Mob program expanding to Naarm,
🥣 a delicious hummus recipe,
➕ and much more.

Read the full Wash Up here: https://bit.ly/washupapr2024

The fabulous team at Geelong Botanic Gardens has generously donated an abundance of locally grown produce to our Morgan St mini-mart. These nutritious, wholesome, and tasty fruits and veggies help support local paddock to plate eating, minimising food kilometres.

As a reminder, our Morgan St mini-mart is open on Saturday mornings from 9-12 for our client’s convenience.

Big thanks to the team at the Geelong Botanic Gardens.

We love our volunteers, and we couldn't do what we do without you.

Currently, we have the following openings available for volunteers:

• Afternoon shift - 12noon - 4pm, Monday - Friday.
• Rescue pick-up and delivery drivers AM and PM, Monday - Friday.

All GFRC volunteers are police checked and hold a WWC check, but most importantly, are valued members of our team and the community.

If you have some time to spare and would like to find out more about the opportunities we have available, please submit your expression of interest via the link below:⬇
https://geelongfoodrelief.org/volunteering

Wishing all our clients, volunteers and other community members a very happy Easter long weekend. 🐰

Please take note of our opening hours during the easter break.

It was wonderful welcoming a team of Wathaurong staff to our kitchen today! We look forward to sharing the space with them over the coming months while they develop a healthy eating cooking program.