Help ease pressure on families this Christmas.
Sign up to donate food. Whether it's a few pantry items or running a small drive — every bit helps provide comfort, dignity and choice this Christmas.
Food For Families
Fill a box and help a family this Christmas.
Your donated box or bag filled with non-perishable food, like canned soup, pasta, baked beans, plus household essentials, such as personal hygiene and cleaning products — helps fill our pantry shelves and makes sure families have what they need this Christmas.
A full pantry means choice. And choice means families get to choose what they need to make their Christmas their own.
Yes! I’d like to donate food for families in need
Fill in your details and we’ll send you everything you need to get started.
Need food or emergency relief?
If you’re doing it tough right now, we’re here to help.
How it works
Receive your free Welcome pack, including our Reverse Advent Calendar and Food For Families stickers to put on the outside of your box or bag. The sticker lets our team know your donation is part of Food For Families when it arrives at the drop off point.
Add a few extras to your weekly shop and invite friends and family to help.
Take your donations to your closest Uniting drop off point and support families to access the essentials they need.
Can’t collect? You can still help.
If you’re not able to fill a box, a small financial donation still goes a long way. Even $20 helps provide meals for a family for a day.
Uniting helps elderly couple push past poverty
After decades of working, building a home and raising a family, Margaret and John* looked forward to settling into retirement. However, they did not anticipate that their ‘golden years’ would be marked by financial stress and hardship.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘oh you pensioners, you’re bludging on society’,” says Margaret.
“But we worked, and we paid our taxes and did everything we were supposed to. I have paid tax since I was 15 right through to retirement.”
Margaret and her husband John, now both 81, are among the 1 in 4 Australian retirees struggling to afford the basics. Having spent most of their working years in a time before compulsory superannuation, the Age Pension promised them a comfortable retirement.
But increased cost-of-living pressures have seen their pension quickly eaten up by rent, bills, groceries and health costs associated with John’s diabetes and Parkinson’s diseases and Margaret’s history of heart attacks.
The couple regularly visit Uniting’s emergency relief service in Sale, a place they say has been a lifeline when things are tough.
“Someone told us about [Uniting] and I thought, ‘well, I’m not too proud’,” says Margaret. “Every now and again you need a bit of help.”
“Without Uniting we would be struggling,” adds John.
Register now to collect food for people like Margaret and John.
Why support Uniting?
Uniting is the community services organisation of the Uniting Church, supporting people across Victoria and Tasmania to reduce the impact of poverty, trauma and disadvantage.
We stand with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, celebrate diversity, and welcome people of every background, faith, ability, gender identity, and sexuality.
When you support Food For Families, you’re helping us provide inclusive, non-discriminatory services and giving families the choice, respect, and care everyone deserves.