Community News

 

Harvest Point Church at Gleneagle has received a boost to help feed local families through the Harvest Care Food Bank.

Villawood Properties, developers of the $400 million housing project at Gleneagle have donated $500 to the cause and sent staff members to help pack food and supplies for people in need, talking with the volunteers and hearing their stories.

This came after company executives met with representatives from Scenic Rim council, local groups and businesses for an official groundbreaking in December last year when Villawood Properties announced the project would provide more than 700 lots of up to 1100sqm.

The team said it would continue to provide support and assistance to the organisation as the Eucalee community grows.

The charity said it was running at capacity to help put food on the table for an increasing number of local families struggling to make ends meet.

Harvest Care Food Bank Coordinator Lyn Finch said calls for assistance has doubled since the pandemic with up to 60 local families accessing the service each week and the number continuing to rise as families feel the pinch of cost of living pressures.

“We rely on the generosity of local businesses to support our community and the only way we can expand our operations is through donations like the one received from Villawood,”

Ms Finch said. “Monetary donations will contribute to the purchase of a much-needed cold room so we can store more fruit and vegetables and increase our capacity to offer fresh produce twice a week instead of the current offering of once a week. “More room for storage means we can purchase more food and even look at upgrading to a pallet system for cold and frozen foods which will dramatically increase our capacity to help more families in need.”

According to the Foodbank Hunger Report more than 2 million households in Australia have run out of food in the last year due to limited finances, sometimes skipping meals or going whole days without eating. Ms Finch said volunteers were doing what they could to meet the increasing needs of the community by offering groceries, household staples and fresh fruit and vegetables at drastically reduced prices.

“It is essential every family has access to nutritious food yet the rising costs of groceries, energy, fuel, and mortgages have put this fundamental need beyond the reach of more and more people with no respite in sight,” she said.

“The number of families in our community needing assistance is alarming and hard to process but they represent the harsh reality of living week to week when the cost of living outweighs a family’s income and food insecurity becomes a reality.”

Villawood Properties made a $500 donation and spent a morning volunteering at the Food Bank Villawood Properties Queensland General Manager Michael Williams said the funds camefrom the company’s community grants program through the recently launched Villawood Foundation aiming to support not-for-profit community groups, sporting clubs and schools.

“We are very passionate about contributing to the local communities in which our residents live, work, and play,” he said.

“Harvest Point Church is located only five minutes from our master planned community Eucalee, and our donation to Harvest Care Food Bank is just one way that we can offer our support to Beaudesert and the surrounding community.

“The level of community spirit and dedication to service demonstrated by Lyn and her team of volunteers is admirable. We are very happy to contribute to this local charity to facilitate the expansion of their services and ultimately, increase the support they offer to assist more
local families.”

Published in The Beaudesert Times, Wednesday 8th May 2023.

Photography by Bernie Bickerton