When does a community initiative offering transport for struggling locals to get to and from the local food bank with their groceries each week become an essential service?

FoodCare Orange is finding out the answer to that question now, as a long-running arrangement with disability service provider, LiveBetter – who for years provided a free mini-bus for shoppers – ended recently.

The move follows LiveBetter’s recent amalgamation with Kirinari Community Services, at a time when FoodCare is itself experiencing record need for its services even while it seeks a replacement provider for its shuttle service, Food Care Coordinator Tim Mordue said.

“We’re now seeing a situation where working people simply can’t put food on the table and are utilising our service… it can happen to anybody,” Tim revealed.

“We’ve become an increasingly necessary service, with April our biggest month ever, with a 20 per cent increase year-on-year from the April before,” he added.

The service, he explains has been so popular for so long, that many struggling locals have come to utilise it on a weekly basis.

“We provided the drivers and they provided the mini-bus and paid for the fuel, registration, and insurance; it’s been going about eight years and, when we started, it was one day a week, now it’s three days... Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

“It drops off and picks up people as a shuttle service, with some walking down, and then we drive them home with their shopping… we also have a volunteer who makes the bookings, which have increased recently,” Mordue explained.

The sudden loss of the mini-bus service, he argues, comes at a time when more and more people are struggling to pay the rent and afford three decent meals a day.

“It’s a door-to-door free transport service that we’ve seen an increased use of as petrol becomes dearer, people can’t afford cars, or they don’t have a licence.

“People have come to rely on it, so the sudden announcement that the bus was no longer available from the end of April came as a bit of a shock to us,” Tim revealed.

Negotiations, he added, are now underway for another organisation to take up the slack for a service that many battlers now depend on.

“We’ve got a working committee that is in talks with council, service clubs, and other providers who have mini-vans as part of their fleets. We need the vehicle from about 10am–1pm, even if only for one day a week. We’re after a classic minibus, one that a person with a normal C-Class sedan licence can legally drive.”

FoodCare receives no recurrent government funding and is managed and operated by more than 100 volunteers and a part-time coordinator providing food donated by a range of supermarkets, farmers, and other community members to lessen the increasing problem of “food insecurity” in the Colour City.

“We’re looking for any organisations that may be able to help; we’re very thankful for the assistance that Live Better has provided to us over the years,” Tim emphasised.

“People have come to rely on this service for so many years so, now we have to move on,” he concluded.

Individuals, businesses or organisations with ideas to help find a solution, can contact FoodCare at: info@foodcareorange.org.au or call 0447 577 884.