In 2017 Bendigo Foodshare delivered around 600,000 kilograms of food for the year through 60 schools and 40 charities, including Bendigo Senior Secondary College, to help those who don’t have enough food.
Around 40 % of the food comes from Melbourne where it’s gathered and distributed by Foodbank Victoria (FBV).
FBV’s existing freight provider went into voluntary administration and a new freight provider was appointed in January 2018.
The new freight provider, Victorian Freight Forwarders, does not have chilled transport capacity. This means that Bendigo and other Regional Victorian Foodshares no longer have access to refrigerated food from FBV. This is resulting in substantially reduced refrigerated and frozen stock for Foodshares registered agencies.
The refrigerated and frozen food for Central Victoria is still available for Foodshare in Melbourne, but we need to find ways to get it to Bendigo regularly and are seeking support from the community.
If you know anyone who can assist with transporting pallets of refrigerated or frozen goods from Melbourne please contact Cathie Steele at Bendigo Foodshare on 5444 3409 Monday to Friday mornings.
