Struggling families in Sunshine are being offered free meals by the local Salvation Army corps, to ensure no one goes hungry.
Every Friday from 3pm until 6.30pm, in partnership with Alex Makes Meals, OzHarvest, and FairShare, the Salvation Army on Devonshire Road provides more than 300 ready made meals to families, as well as food hampers, fruit and vegetables, and other non perishable items.
Sunshine Salvos captain Colin Reynolds said the service has faced increasing demand as the community deals with the cost of living crisis.
“The demand for our service for people accessing assistance with food has risen exponentially,” he said.
Mr Reynolds said prior to this year, the team relied solely on Alex Makes Meals services to cater for the community, but it was no longer enough with the influx of demand.
“That’s just human food… we give out a lot of dog and cat food as well,” he continued.
Coming into the festive season, Mr Reynolds said demand is expected to further skyrocket and he urged anybody who can chip in with donated items or time to do so.
“We find the demand for food and that bit extra that people like to have… food that’s a bit more special for Christmas, that’s going to be real for us this next couple of months,” he said.
“People are encouraged to donate food to us, non perishable type foods… pasta, rice, long life milk, tinned foods.
“We also have a huge Christmas Day lunch for the community where we put on a free sit down meal, and we can always use more volunteers for that.”
The Salvation Army Sunshine Corps are located at 42 Devonshire Road.
Gerald Lynch
