Bendigo Foodshare has received a $20,000 sponsorship from Fosterville Gold Mine to help with the rising costs of distributing food across Central Victoria, it was announced today.
In these unprecedented times, with communities seeming to lurch from one crisis to the next, the ability for organisations such as Bendigo Foodshare to continue to do the work that they do, has never been more important.
At the same time, economic challenges such as rapidly rising energy and fuel prices are testing Bendigo Foodshare’s ability to keep up with rising demand.
“We have seen our costs double over the last 12 months, which has made it challenging to keep our three-van fleet on the road,” explained Michelle Murphy, CEO at Bendigo Foodshare.
“Besides doing 96 supermarket rescues six days a week, the vans also deliver food relief to over 70 partner organisations across central Victoria each week, so it isn’t hard to understand why we are so impacted by fuel price increases,” Michelle continues.
Fosterville Gold Mine partnered with Bendigo Foodshare a number of years ago and have remained a strong supporter throughout the pandemic and beyond.
“Fosterville Gold Mine believes Bendigo Foodshare provides an essential service to the community, so when they shared their recent challenges with us, we were happy to provide additional operational funding to help keep the vans on the road,” said Lance Faulkner, General Manager at Fosterville Gold Mine.
Due to the recent flood devastation across Victoria, Bendigo Foodshare has once again seen an increased need for support.
“We are grateful for Fosterville’s ongoing support which makes it possible for us to continue providing food relief, which reached approximately 30,000 people across Central Victoria last year,” said Michelle.
This new sponsorship from Fosterville Gold Mine is in addition to the existing and ongoing support for Bendigo Foodshare which includes Agnico Eagle Australia’s contribution of $300,000 towards the construction of a new home for Bendigo Foodshare.
