Locals asked to dig deep for hungry tummies

With 15 per cent of the population experiencing food insecurity at some point every year,
Foodbank and Woolworths are appealing to Port Douglas and Mossman residents to support its national public appeal and help meet the rise in need for food assistance over the winter period.

The 2018 Foodbank Rumbling Tummies report found that more than one in five children in Australia have experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months, with 652,000 Australians seeking food relief via Foodbank each month.

Nearly two million meals were provided monthly to Queensland residents. Sadly, many are still going without, with an additional one million meals required every month to meet demand.

Foodbank Australia’s CEO Brianna Casey, said: “Our Winter Appeal at Woolworths is helping families at a time when it is most needed.

“At this time of the year, we have families struggling to make ends meet, with meal-skipping becoming standard practice, particularly for parents. With 40% of food insecure households, families with dependent children, it’s crucial that we do more to get food on their dining tables.

“This Appeal provides us with an opportunity to remind Australians about the ongoing hunger issues which affects so many families, individuals and children, at the same time as securing additional food to assist them.”

Woolworths has partnered with Foodbank for more than 16 years and donates on average more than 1 million kilograms of fresh, ambient and household products yearly to help the organisation fight hunger in Australia. With help from its food and grocery partners like Woolworths, Foodbank provides 67 million meals each year to vulnerable Australians. 

Foodbank is Australia’s largest hunger relief organisation, acting as a pantry to the charities and community groups who feed the hungry. Last year Foodbank distributed the equivalent of 67 million meals (183,000 meals a day) to more than 2,400 charities and 1,750 schools.

Rumbling Tummy Report Findings

 - 1 in 3 parents living in food insecure households disclosed that their children go hungry at least once a month.

  - Parents living in food insecure households reported that their children experienced the following at least once a week:

 - 18% go to school without eating breakfast, 15% go to school without a packed lunch or lunch money and 11% go to bed without eating any dinner.

 - More than 1 in 5 children in Australia have experienced hunger in the last 12 months, and it is more likely for a child to go hungry in Australia than it is for an adult in 2018.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

* Readers are encouraged to use their full details below to ensure comment legitimacy. Comments are the opinions of readers and do not represent the views of Newsport or its staff. Comments containing unlawful, obscene, defamatory or abusive material will not be published.