OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn AO and Minister of Social Services Amanda Rishworth came together to celebrate and deliver OzHarvest’s 20 millionth meal in Adelaide.

“Reaching 20 million meals in Adelaide is a significant moment to celebrate and is only made possible through the tremendous community effort of OzHarvest drivers, staff, generous supporters, and our valued food donors,” Ronni said.

“Since our inception in 2011, we’ve diverted over 7.6 million kilograms of perfectly good food otherwise destined for landfill and delivered it to feed those in need.”

Ronni emphasised that the rising cost of living is the main reason behind Australia’s food relief crisis, with over 3.7 million households struggling to put food on the table (2023 Foodbank Hunger Report).

“Australia is in a food relief crisis. In my two decades of leading OzHarvest, I’ve never seen the need so great. Despite our four yellow vans rescuing over 33,222 meals weekly and delivering to 83 charities, it is still not enough to meet demand. Currently, there are 79 charities on our waitlist in South Australia.”

Minister of Social Services Amanda Rishworth said “It was great to spend some time out in the OzHarvest van, making the 20 millionth food delivery in Adelaide. Emergency Relief and Food Relief providers can be a lifeline to people in crisis and just last week I boosted funding for services like OzHarvest. Through that funding, providers will receive an additional $14.4 million this financial year to support their efforts. It’s essential we have a strong system of relief in our country and I thank OzHarvest for all the work they do across our Adelaide community and Australia more broadly to support Australians in need.”

The milestone meal was delivered to Hackham West Community Centre (HWCC). Anne Rhodes from HWCC described it as a full-circle moment as she recalled helping Ronni start OzHarvest SA back in 2011.

“When we were just starting out, it was hard to envision OzHarvest reaching 20 million meals. Now working for HWCC, I can’t fathom how we would manage without our regular OzHarvest deliveries.”

“We look forward to seeing the iconic yellow van every week knowing fresh, nutritious food is coming… particularly now, as demand has skyrocketed in the last year. We can’t keep up.”

Right now, OzHarvest Adelaide needs extra funding to grow and meet the increasing need of the community. To keep OzHarvest’s wheels turning and help feed vulnerable communities, donate now at ozharvest.org/adelaide

For every $1 donated, Ozharvest is able to deliver two meals to people in need.