Not far down the road from our shed in Long Gully, nestled in amongst the Ironbank forest of North Bendigo, are the beautiful buildings of @bendigodistrictaboriginalcoop, or BDAC for short. Having worked with BDAC team for a few years now, it was great to finally hear first-hand from Mat and Tania about their food relief program and the impact they’re having in their community.
Mat and Tania shared their struggles during COVID to support their community members to stay at safe and at home, particularly their vulnerable elders. Food, along with personal hygiene and cleaning products, were critical to achieve this.
While they feel proud to have kept COVID positive cases to only 30, the toll of isolation on their elders and youth has been great. BDAC’s focus now is to provide opportunities for these groups to reengage and connect with others. We’re looking forward to involving a group of young people in our Cooking for Change program in the coming weeks.
BDAC currently support between 50-60 Indigenous families each week with the food relief sourced from Bendigo Foodshare, Foodbank and other means. In the last 12 months, we have provided them with more than 13,000kg of food. That’s an incredible 26,000 meals to support their community.
Thank you to the BDAC team for your dedication to deliver such important work!
