Providing much more than just discounted and donated groceries, fruit and vegies, meat, milk and eggs for battling locals, Orange’s local FoodCare also helps those who are REALLY doing it tough.

This includes free food hampers, other essential items, and advice and support for residents very much down on their luck; many of whom don’t even have the money for two-minute noodles or a loaf of bread, let alone a table to put a non-existent meal on.

With their cupboard nearly bare after a record year of giving, FoodCare Orange has again launched its winter appeal to restock the pantry for not just the colder months ahead, but also the festive season rush at year’s end.

It was a full house again when Orange City Life dropped by on a recent Wednesday morning with shoppers patiently waiting out the front for entry to the store.

Over the past few months, FoodCare has experienced record numbers of people seeking support with families and working individuals now making up 60 per cent of new customers, coordinator Tim Mordue revealed.

They’ve seen a further 20 per cent increase in people relying on FoodCare just to put food on the table and, like almost everyone else, they’ve also seen operating costs rise substantially.

Which makes their current appeal — traditionally launched during Volunteers Week — for items ranging from tinned food to baking powder and pasta, noodles, and rice, particularly vital (see attached list).

“We’ve held it the last few years usually at the end of May or the start of June. We do the media first, and then we contact the schools, and church and community groups for one of our donation points,” Tim revealed.

“We’ve already set up drop-off spots at Fitness Perfection, West Orange Motors, and Curves (women’s fitness), with more to come,” he added.

The winter appeal, he explained, is not the usual food recycling and rescue service involving major supermarkets, farmers, and other local producers for their March Street minimart, but for those who have no money at all.

“It’s not for the self-serve shop; but for people who turn up from either family and domestic violence situations, living out of their car, getting out of incarceration, or with no accommodation at all.

“The appeal is for emergency food relief, the purpose is to bolster our diminished stocks of emergency food because, by this time of year, there’s very little left,” Tim said.

He said that, by the numbers of both shoppers and other clients they are seeing at FoodCare, more and more of us in “The Lucky Country” are being left behind.

“Sometimes we see half a dozen people in a day, sometimes none, but its regularly 50 or 60 in a month arriving with no money and needing emergency food, and there is also always a rush at Christmas.”

The aim, he clarified, is not just to provide food, but to also help these individuals to seek the support networks to begin their road to recovery.

“We also give them a range of service providers — people like Vinnies, Verto, and church groups — who can help them take the next step,” Tim said.

“We also give them free eggs, meat, milk, vegetables and a food hamper… beef jerky is also surprisingly popular, it’s a way of getting protein without the need for refrigeration.”

Volunteer’s Week, which ended on Sunday, is also the perfect time to recognise the efforts of those who help out not just at FoodCare, but in a range of other sporting, community, home, and church situations.

“The time, compassion, and steady kindness they give, truly changes lives,” Tim said.

“Their impact is often unseen but always deeply felt; we are profoundly grateful for everything they do,” he concluded.