Office upgrade helping Foodbank feed local families

You might not know what to expect when stepping foot into Foodbank Mount Gambier, but there is more to the organisation than you might realise.

Foodbank SA is a not-for-profit organisation and are the largest food relief organisation on the Limestone Coast. The organisation works with more than 130 local charities, community groups and schools and has delivered over 400,000 meals in the last 12 months to people in the region who would otherwise go without. 

There are currently two full time staff Members and 40 volunteers at the local facility, The volunteers are a very much valued, critical part of their operation. The volunteers contribute countless hours to ensure local families are taken care of.

Through OneFortyOne’s Community Grants program, Foodbank were able to purchase some crucial upgrades for their office space.

A new multi-function printer and laptop have been a much-needed upgrade to the Foodbank Mount Gambier office. It might not seem like a big deal to most, but for Regional Branch Manager, Lynne Neshoda and our local branch, it’s made a world of difference.

Lynne explained that the local branch was having to outsource a lot of their printing, which ended up being a timely and costly task.

“We’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of help from local printing businesses, or we would rely on our Adelaide office to print our documents and send them to us either on our Grocery delivery or post them out to us, but the wait can be hard,” Lynne said.

“Our old office printer didn’t print in colour; it didn’t print front and back and it was quite old. Having the new one has made a huge difference. We use the printer for so much – day to day admin, recipes for meal packs, online orders from our Schools and Agencies, posters, and signage for around the Hub and Warehouse.”

Foodbank SA is not immune to the rising cost of living, saving where possible is essential. Lynne explained how difficult it can be to keep costs low, while grocery prices continue to climb.
Foodbank SA rely on support from the Business Community, Grants and fundraising and are very thankful to One Forty One, for this Grant opportunity.

Being able to purchase the printer has meant that we don’t need to outsource anymore – we’ve saved so much time and money.”

The Mount Gambier Foodbank branch consists of two main areas. At one end is the Food Hub, where people are referred to shop for grocery items the same as a mini supermarket – but at a fraction of the cost. Fruit, vegetables, and bread are free.

At the other end is the warehouse, where they pick orders and deliver to Agencies, Charities and Schools. The warehouse stores pallets of canned goods and other pantry items, as well as a huge cool room and freezer to store their fruit and veg and frozen bread and meat.

“We’ve come a long way out here” Lynne said.

“When I first started here, there was just a shed. No hub, and nothing outside.”

There are many other local businesses that support Foodbank and help where and when they can, whether that be through donations of funds, food, or time.

We have corporate groups that come each Friday to pack meal packs and fruit and veg, we run Food drives with the help of the community and business, we pick up food from around our region from local business that would otherwise go to land fill.

“We’re so lucky to have so many great local supporters and sponsors.

“We couldn’t do it without the help of our community – we have such a strong community.  That’s what it’s all about really, locals supporting locals to help feed people in need in our region – that’s the beauty of it.”