The Give Where You Live Foundation has been helping those in need across the Geelong region for nearly 70 years, improving education outcomes, helping people find work, and supporting them through crises in their life. A major aspect of our work-life crisis is supporting those who experience food insecurity. Hunger across our region remains a critical issue and one that the Foundation contributes substantially to addressing.
The Foundation’s Jobs and Food Recovery initiative will support the critical need to provide emergency food relief through testing and piloting the provision and distribution of emergency food relief meals and pantry packages through hospitality venues.
The program seeks to address a number of key challenges within the current food relief system, including creating greater diversity and access to food relief, that expands the type and availability of food, as well as giving greater choice to someone seeking assistance.
The Andrews Labour Government is supporting families and hospitality businesses in Geelong, with a major funding boost to the program with Member for Geelong Christine Couzens announcing $400,000 to support the Jobs and Food Recovery initiative.
The Jobs and Food Recovery initiative will not only deliver food to those who need it most but will also provide support to the hospitality sector through increased trade.
The grant will not only help cover the direct costs of the provision of food, but it will also allow the Foundation to establish and test a new system for emergency food relief that will make it better equipped to support increased demand for food relief in the future. The funding will also assist with the Foundation’s current Food Relief voucher program making it more effective, the program currently supports over 5,000 local men, women, and children each year.