Foodbank is marking World Hunger Day with the launch of a public appeal to raise $2 million for a new food and grocery warehouse in Sydney to meet heavy demand for supplies.
Foodbank NSW says its current food distribution centre in Sydney is being inundated with requests for food donations coming from 500 companies across the state.
The hunger relief organisation also today launched its End Hunger Report 2013, which shows there has been an eight per cent rise to 700,000 people in NSW seeking food supplies.
Foodbank NSW is currently helping charities feed 80,000 people each month with more than 670,000 healthy meals, however 11,000 people, 40 per cent of whom are children, are unable to be assisted each month.
Foodbank says low income families in particular are seeking food relief. It says one in eight adults and one in six kids are going hungry every year in Australia, and 83 per cent more food is needed by agencies to meet demand.
“The human cost of requiring support to feed their families is rising quickly, with many of our recipients feeling stress, anger, shame and anxiety, while suffering from a range of health disorders,” says the CEO of Foodbank NSW and former head of Woolworths manufacturing, Gerry Andersen.
“To address these issues, we are calling on people to give us cash donations and/or their time to support our distribution of food to charities.”
Enzo Allara, chairman of Foodbank Australia, said: “Hunger in Australia affects more people than many realise, and families are increasingly relying on food relief due to difficult economic times. For many Australians, it only takes one unexpected cost or event to tip the balance.”
Foodbank currently draws on donations from 700 companies – the majority of which are Australia’s top food companies.
Foodbank donor Kellogg Australia has also launched a Breakfasts for Better Days initiative which will see its employees take time out of their day to build Christmas hampers for the hungry.
The hampers will be distributed by Foodbank Australia and will include a selection of food products, toys and gifts, and a handmade Christmas card.
Kellogg will also provide a serving of food to those in need every time someone shares or “likes” the company’s new World Food Day YouTube video, which launches today.
