By Aaron Cordy
IN 2012 Shepparton Foodshare (SFS) opened on borrowed premises with a dream of providing food for those in need. In the 13 years that followed SFS has more than delivered upon that dream with an army of volunteers and the support of many wonderful people in the community.
Friday, May 2, marked a significant day for SFS when its new purpose-built home in Mooroopna was officially opened by Minister for Regional Development Jaclyn Symes and SFS Board Chair Jeremy Rensford.
The opening comes off the back of lobbying by local agencies and community members, with nearly $3 million from the State Labor Government and the ultra-generous donation of land from Angela and Jim Andreadis, without whom the project would have never gotten underway.
“To have now a permanent, secure base for Foodshares operation, will support them go from strength to strength,” said Ms Symes.
“I understand, since 2012 Foodshare has distributed more than 4m kilos of food to obviously, the registered emergency agencies, schools, neighbourhood houses, community meals, programs and our faith organizations.”
The new site has more warehousing space, along with new offices and a meeting room, a new commercial kitchen to maximise food usage and minimise waste. Cooling and freezer rooms have doubled in size compared with the previous site, allowing access by forklifts to reduce manual handling processes.
Reflecting upon the purpose of SFS, Jeremy Rensford spoke passionately about what it means to Greater Shepparton and why it is so important.
“It’s not our board, it’s not our council, it’s not our governments. It’s the kid that’s hungry,” said Mr Rensford.
“Think about that. It’s a kid that’s hungry, and he or she is the most important person in this organization. That’s why we’re all here to make sure he or she or their parents or whoever that’s hungry is able to have food put in their belly. And I hope that we will never get away from remembering that. If I’m here, we’re doing that.”
