For many locals struggling in these tough times, having access to cheap and healthy food at discounted rates is a lifesaver, but how do you get your groceries to and from home?

This issue has now been resolved for Orange's FoodCare service with the recent donation of a top-of-the-line, fully fitted 12-seater Toyota Hiace from local NDIS provider Kirinari.

Following Kirinari's amalgamation with Live Better this time last year, an arrangement whereby FoodCare could book a van for blocks of time each week ended. Since then, the food bank has been utilising an hourly lease arrangement with all-abilities employment provider Wangarang as a stop-gap measure.

Now, not only will the dedicated mini-bus provide guaranteed transport to the volunteer service group's March Street store, but it can also double as a food pick-up and delivery van for the local food bank, vice-president Lee Cook explained.

"Kirinari is donating one of its old buses to us, which will save us quite a bit of money compared to the paying relationship we currently have with Wangarang," Mr Cook said.

"There are some other benefits to us, as we should be able to install some child seats for school holidays, and can use the bus at other times for picking up rescued food or volunteer transport," he added.

Doing the honours at the official hand-over last week, Kirinari's Ageing and Community Business Logistics Operations and Improvement Manager, Jason Dawson, said that the donation will eliminate logistical issues to do with booking and accessing the service as was previously the case.

"We'd worked with FoodCare providing the transport for more than 10 years; it was a long-standing arrangement we had with them," Mr Dawson said.

"Due to some compliance requirements, we had to withdraw the bus as FoodCare was not able to operate it; but, by allocating other resources, we were able to offer it as a gift," he added.

The end of the arrangement with Kirinari left FoodCare at a loose end as far as being able to drive clients to and from the service, Mr Cook said.

"We've since been paying Wangarang for their bus, but this will be the first one we've ever owned!"

The gift is an extension of the good work that the former NDIS provider offered to one of Orange's great services for battlers in our community, Mr Cook said.

"Jason has provided community transport through Kirinari to us for some time. This is another way of carrying on the support that Live Better offered for all those years," he added.

Although there are some cost issues to do with owning their own vehicle outright, the result will offer the group flexibility and delivery options that they didn't previously enjoy. The bus service is now a key part of the good work they do in the community, FoodCare Coordinator Tim Mordue said.

"It's become an essential service for our food bank, which operates Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday," Mr Mordue explained.

"It's about picking people up from their homes and bringing them down here to shop, or even those who walk down, but can't walk home with their groceries," he added.

The donated vehicle offers the service a certainty that they could only previously dream of.

"Being able to use the vehicle for other things offers us greater freedom and we can use it for more days than previously," Mr Mordue said.

"Such things as food rescue is incredibly important for us; we have rescued more than 70 tonnes of food that would otherwise have gone to animal feed or landfill."

It is, he believes, a great result for the group and its customers.

"This is a fantastic outcome for people experiencing financial hardship; we can now self-manage our transport needs as and when we need them," Mr Mordue concluded.

Excited as they are at the offering, FoodCare is now putting the 'bite' on council for a permanent parking spot for the vehicle for the service, which backs onto the council carpark.