QLD News

OzHarvest Cairns Reach Half A Million Meal Milestone

by OzAdmin

August 30, 2018

OzHarvest-Cairns-500000-meal-milestone
OzHarvest-Cairns-500000-meal-milestone
QLD News

OzHarvest Cairns Reach Half A Million Meal Milestone

by OzAdmin

The fight against food waste has reached a major milestone this week as OzHarvest Cairns delivers 500,000 meals in Far North Queensland. Since launching locally in 2014, the for-impact organisation has rescued enough food to provide three square meals a day to the entire population of Cairns!

OzHarvest Cairns’ food rescue operations have grown rapidly from a single food donor at Rusty’s Market, once a week to 44 local food donors including Woolworths allowing fresh, nutritious food to be delivered to 28 charity agencies and schools helping to feed people in need in Far North Queensland.

OzHarvest Cairns Coordinator, Jana Gorski said the food delivered to local charities provides much needed meals for vulnerable people in the community. “The services we support range from those facing homelessness, families experiencing financial hardship, women seeking refuge from violence, school kids coming to class without breakfast – there is an enormous amount of need in our community and it’s growing. Learning about how much vulnerability exists is quite confronting, as it’s mostly hidden from the public eye.”

“Knowing the benefits of providing regular, fresh and nutritious food to these charities is very rewarding. From kids being able to learn in class, to someone going to a job interview with breakfast in their tummy and maybe just one less thing to worry about for a person experiencing financial hardship, as they can at least put food on the table,” said Jana.

OzHarvest will collect all types of quality food from markets, supermarkets, farms, restaurants and cafés. Any business with surplus food should contact OzHarvest. With a driving purpose to ‘nourish our country’, a regular supply of quality food donations, volunteers to help with operations and financial support from the community are always needed. For every $1 donated to OzHarvest, we can deliver two meals.

To volunteer your time or donate to OzHarvest Cairns, email [email protected]