Nowadays, it’s no secret that the cost of living crisis has left many people struggling to make ends meet, but some bear the brunt more than others. At the Lomandra Community Project, the situation is more apparent than ever.

This Campbelltown initiative provides free and discounted food from partners like Woolworths, OzHarvest and Foodbank to struggling community members. They also put together 500 weekly food hampers to send to local schools and emergency relief programs.

The Lomandra Community Project provided free and discounted foods to the community. Credit: Lomandra Community Project/Facebook

Audrey Nable is the Community Liaison Officer at Lomandra School and helps to run the Lomandra Community Project.

She shared her revelation: 'Families are just broken. They don't know what to do. What do they do? Do they pay a bill? Or do they put food on the table or do they pay for petrol so they can get to work? Something's got to give, and so they're cutting back on everything that they possibly can. And that demand is a huge increase for us.’

‘Last week, we had 54 new people come through our pantry, and that's a lot when we already have 2,000 people a week that we support, but 54 new people who had never needed assistance before,' she added.

The initiative was set up 12 years ago by the Lomandra School to ensure the students had access to nutritious food to positively influence their academic performance and help create a better learning environment.

'The school caters for students with severe challenging behaviours and, or mental health issues. With 88 students, years five to 12, it is the largest school in New South Wales,' Audrey explained.

'We began the program with a breakfast club. That was because we identified that children were coming to school with no packed food and, in many cases, very little food in the household,' she recalled.

'There was a vulnerability in the home regarding food insecurity, which added to the behavioural outcomes as well. Increased numbers of students attended the breakfast program, and then from there, we started a hamper program where we would send food and hamper boxes home to families,' Audrey said.

Now, the school feeds students from food donations from different organisations three times during their school day and offers weekly support to 24 other schools.

In 2019, the project moved to its current location in Leumeah, where it opens its onsite food pantry for four days a week to anyone needing a helping hand. Aside from free fruit, bread, meat, and vegetables, the pantry also offers essentials at a fraction of the regular retail cost.

Lomandra Community Project moved to Leumeah and opened an onsite food pantry, which is open four times a week. Credit: Lomandra Community Project/Facebook

'A lot of people, especially the elderly, rely on us basically for what they're eating for that week because they just can't afford their rent or their living expenses or their medication,' Audrey shared.

She also noticed that working families were visiting their community pantry.

‘It's a new wave of people coming through needing assistance. People who have never had the experience with mortgage stress, and just the general cost of living are now looking at other means to put fresh fruit and veg and groceries on the table for their family.'

Fay, a local beneficiary, shops at the pantry weekly and makes bulk meals for neighbours and other community members who are unable to get to the Leumeah.

'The pantry means so much to the community,' Fay shared.

'This is the only food a lot of families have access to. Without it, they wouldn't eat. Audrey and the staff and volunteers are very non-judgemental and really care about people in need,' she added.

The Lomandra Community Project is one of the recipients of Woolworths' recent donation—which equates to more than 13 million meals—in a bid to tackle food insecurity.

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said, ' At the heart of our business, we exist to feed Australians, and we don’t believe that should stop once you leave our stores.'

'Our supermarkets donate excess food to local charities each week; however, with more people on both sides of the Tasman experiencing food insecurity for the first time, it’s clear that more is needed to provide immediate relief,' he added.

Key Takeaways

• The Lomandra Community Project provides free discounted food and prepares 500 food hampers weekly for local schools and emergency relief programs. The demand for its services has risen significantly due to the cost of living crisis.
  
• The project, initially established to support students with challenging behaviours or mental health issues, now also assists a wider community under financial stress, providing essential goods at a fraction of the regular retail cost.
  
• Their onsite pantry in Leumeah is open four times a week for those in need. Audrey Nable, Community Liaison Officer at Lomandra School, claimed that working families and seniors rely on their community pantry.
  
• Woolworths has donated an equivalent of 13 million meals to Australian charities, including the Lomandra Community Project, to help combat food insecurity amid the cost of living crisis.
  

You can learn more about the Lomandra Community Project here.

What do you think of this story, members? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

 

[Abby2]

I do not mind woolworths donating goods and money to charities as long as it is out of their profits not out of my pocket.
After all they get a tax deduction which I do not.

 

[Gsr]

Good on all the businesses who donate to charities, whether food, other products or monetary donations. Every donation no matter how small helps and there are more and more people in need of help everyday. The situation is only going to get worse until the government starts putting some serious efforts into helping struggling families.

 

[Ezzy]

Sorry, but reading this beautiful story bought up my emotions.

A Community who with the help of Woolworths, Foodbank & OzHarvest are able to assist over 2,054 people weekly. Without assistance from these businesses these people would be on the bones of their bums.

Congratulations to the Lomandra Community Project & thankyou for the service you offer & thanks to those companies who support you.

Not often we can read a good feel story like this.

Thanks SDC for bringing this to our attention..