Help make a difference in your community.

Fill a box yourself, or with friends and family, and help put meals on the table for people doing it tough throughout the year.

Food For Families

We need your help to support people when they need it most.

Right now, families across Victoria and Tasmania are coming to Uniting’s emergency relief services for support — many for the first time. Your support helps provide practical, everyday essentials when they’re needed most.

A bag of pasta. A tin of soup. Some laundry powder. These feel like small things — but for a family doing it tough, they can make a real difference.

When you register, we send you a free Welcome Kit with our suggested shopping list, stickers and a bag to collect donations in. Drop off your donations at your nearest Uniting site and they’ll go directly onto our pantry shelves.

How it works

Register online

Receive you free Welcome Pack, including a suggested shopping list and stickers to label your box or bag.

Collect items

Add a few extras to your weekly shop and invite friends and family to help.

Drop off

Take your donations to your closest Uniting drop off point and support families to access the essentials they need. 

Need food or emergency relief?

If you’re doing it tough right now, we’re here to help.

Ways to get involved

Jess has been part of Food For Families for the past six to seven years. For Jess, what sets Food For Families a part is its tangible impact. She knows that times are tight for everyone, but she believes that even small acts can make a real difference.

"No one in Australia should have to make the decision between paying bills and putting food on the table." - Jess, Food For Families participant

One Christmas, Mary began collecting food because she realised that despite it being the time of year for giving, many people would still be missing out. Mary’s kind thought for others has inspired her own family.

“There are people out there doing it really tough right now. We need to band together and show our support.” - Mary

Every year the family look on Uniting’s Food For Families website, write a shopping list and do a big grocery shop. Tami then creates her own ‘advent’ calendar which tells the family each day what food item to put in the Food For Families box they are gradually filling.

I wanted to teach them Christmas is about giving...It’s about thinking of other people who might not be in a fortunate position. - Tami

Food For Families has been running for over 30 years​

The program brings local communities together to donate non-perishable food and household essential items through collections by schools, kindergartens, congregations, workplaces, community groups, individuals and families.

The food, gifts and household essentials are distributed at our emergency relief, family services and outreach centres across Victoria and Tasmania. Families can select food from our food pantry when times get tough and bills stack up. We also provide food that’s easy to prepare for people experiencing homelessness.

News

Rudi, like 1 in 5 Australian households, has been forced to skip meals, sometimes entire days of eating, just to get by. …
Uniting’s Food For Families program helped Anne, a new mother fleeing violence, regain stability, confidence, and a sense of home by providing …
Victoria Police’s Women in Policing Committee joined Uniting’s Food For Families, rallying colleagues to donate and support locals facing hardship.
For over a decade, Ratio Consultants has partnered with Uniting’s Food For Families, donating food and essentials to support people in need across Victoria and Tasmania.
Jess has been part of Food For Families for the past six to seven years. For Jess, what sets Food For Families …

Class acts of kindness.

Over the last 3 years alone, PEGS has collected 170 boxes of food and essential items for families and individuals in need. …
Over the past four years Access Group Solutions (AGS) has donated close to 1,500 kgs of food to Uniting’s Food For Families …
For the church, donating to Food For Families is a practical way of providing support to those experiencing crisis.