Help make a difference in your community.

Food For Families is a great way to get together to make a tangible difference to the lives of individuals and families experiencing hardship and crisis throughout the year.

Food For Families

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

It is a terrible thing if you can’t afford to put food on the table and feed your family.

Sadly, the increased cost of living has made this a daily reality for many people who are coming to us for support.

As a result, all our emergency relief services are seeing a significant increase in people reaching out to us for help. Many have never needed assistance before.

As the cost of living continues to rise and a growing number of families are struggling to make ends meet, the right help at the right time can make all the difference.

Food For Families is a great way to educate and introduce community giving to young people. Learning that the simple act of giving makes a huge difference in the lives of people in need in our community.

For older groups, Food For Families is a great project for Community and Social Justice projects; helping students develop positive relationships, working effectively in teams and developing leadership skills whilst having a direct positive impact on their local community.

For younger children, it’s a great way to teach them compassion and have discussions with them about people in need. It helps them to understand that there are people who don’t have the same things they do and that many families do not have a home or can’t afford to eat.

Food For Families helps to encourage them to be open minded about other situations and not be judgemental.

Simply having a Food For Families box in each classroom whether it is for a couple of weeks, a term or right throughout the year, you can help make a difference for families experiencing hardship whilst instilling a sense community and compassion in your students.

Ways to get involved

For 17 years, Murrumbeena Primary School has been helping those in need put food on the table. Each year the school donates 25 to 30 boxes of food to Uniting’s Food For Families program which is distributed through our emergency relief centres.

“The children really get into it....The program opens the students’ eyes to helping other people, not just their own families." - Amanda, Murrumbeena Primary School

When Louise introduced the Food For Families program to her students at Buninyong Uniting Kindergarten, she never knew how widely popular it would become among families. Louise says the program has been a great way to teach her students about compassion.

“It was so popular we decided it was something we wanted to add to our program every year.” - Louise, Buninyong Uniting Kindergarten

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.

How it works

Register online today and we will send you out some Food For Families branded boxes.

You will be sent some information and links to download resources including posters, suggested shopping lists and flyers to help promote your food drive.

Distribute your boxes around the school placing one in each classroom, the office and any other high traffic locations.

Make sure you include a notice in your school newsletter and encourage everyone who can to contribute an item.

Once your collection is complete, you simply take them directly to your local drop off point so we can start distributing the goods to people in need through our pantries.

For larger collections you can either email or give us a call on 1800 668 426 or email [email protected] and we will arrange someone to come past and collect your boxes.

News

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.

Food for friends.

For most of the past 25 years, the 13 congregations have generously collected food to support their local community. ‘Food For Friends’ …
For 17 years, Murrumbeena Primary School has been helping those in need put food on the table. Each year the school donates …
When Louise introduced the Food For Families program to her students at Buninyong Uniting Kindergarten, she never knew how widely popular it …
One Christmas, Mary began collecting food because she realised that despite it being the time of year for giving, many people would …
Every year the family look on Uniting’s Food For Families website, write a shopping list and do a big grocery shop. Tami …
In 2019, 73 tonnes of food and toiletries were pledged for individuals and families thanks to thousands of generous supporters like Michelle. …