Five neighbourhood houses across Maribyrnong and Brimbank have joined forces to tackle the issue of food security in the two municipalities.
Each of the houses had been doing their own food relief programs throughout the pandemic, so they decided to join forces to provide more support to those who need it.
The houses have formed the Nourish Project which aims to rescue surplus food from landfill, which is transformed into healthy and nutritious meals and then delivered and provided for free for people doing it tough.
Duke Street Community House’s Kat Day said each of the houses had been seeing between 20 and 50 people each week seeking food.
The Duke Street house had been giving out food hampers every week and were now handing them out at the Nourish Program’s new home in Braybrook.
“We’ve been doing food relief since August 2020,” she said.
“The last six months we’ve partnered up with five other neighbourhood houses.
“The Nourish program has moved into a new space at Central West Shopping Centre.
“Some families with larger households we’re seeing every week, some families we see every two weeks.”
The other houses part of the project are Yarraville Community Centre, Angliss Neighbourhood House, West Footscray Neighbourhood House and Braybrook Maidstone Neighbourhood.
Ms Day said the houses continue to provide other support, not just food relief.
She said having moved into Central West they were seeing more people wanting to know about the project.
Ms Day said they were looking for volunteers to help with a number of roles.
“We’re definitely going to need some volunteers to help us meet the demand,” she said.
“We are most desperate for people to drive to the various businesses to get the items.
“We’re after people who want to help pick hampers and we’re possibly looking to have a booking service.
“Anyone who feels like they want to give some time to the community, we will find a role.”
Ms Day said the food relief program continued to flow onto other parts of the house’s programs. She said many of the programs they’ve introduced recently have come about after meeting people through those programs.
