Much of the work undertaken by Bendigo Foodshare volunteers is seen widely by our community; from our vans criss-crossing the streets, our team out at supermarkets, and our tins at your favourite coffee shop.
But there are things that happen behind the scenes to make our massive operation happen, and that’s where Roger Muller comes in.
Roger joined the team in 2020 when pandemic lockdowns began, responding to our call for more help. A retired land surveyor, Roger wanted to play his part in making sure those who needed food received it.
After chatting to our team about his skills, he quickly came on board to help us revolutionise our registered organisations’ food ordering system, designing a new digital cloud-based solution.
When previously our 80+ registered organisations would either handwrite or email a list of requested items, now, they can submit an online order form that speaks to our stock levels and makes our data and reporting simpler. It saves our admin and warehouse team hours, reduces duplication of work, and makes the experience for our community easier. It’s what our response to COVID-19 needed and speaks to the power of our community helping us to be better.
“Personally, I think you get more out of volunteering than what you give. It’s just very satisfying to help people in some capacity.”
For Roger, he is grateful to the team for embracing the digital solution, and, from his own skill base, enjoyed working with us to tackle a problem.
“Professionally as a land surveyor, I was used to taking a starting point and seeing where it needed to end up. At Bendigo Foodshare, I knew where they wanted to be at the end, and I knew where to start – so it was just working out the steps we needed to get there,” he said.
He said he was drawn to Bendigo Foodshare out of the rising demand, but equally, that there were so many volunteers doing many different things to make it all happen.
“It’s diverse, and there’s a need. It was a dark time at the start of COVID with so many plunged into insecurity.”
Roger is active volunteering with other organisations including the Star Cinema and is amazed at people’s commitment to so many voluntary roles in Bendigo.
“Personally, I think you get more out of volunteering than what you give. It’s just very satisfying to help people in some capacity.”
We’re up to our fourth iteration of the digital solution since it was first developed, and Roger is always on hand to fix a formula, add another feature, or troubleshoot for the team.
“I’m so very happy to be playing my part.”
Thank you, Roger; for all you do behind the scenes to make our work happen.