Food pantries across Western Australia a ‘godsend’ to those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis

ABC NEWS (Australia)

At a time when supermarket prices are under scrutiny and families are feeling the cost-of-living pinch, generous West Australians are converting their front yards and garages into food pantries. Organisers of grassroots Perth charity ‘Feed it Forward’ say their services are more in demand than ever.

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00:00In the foothills of Perth, Athena Powell's makeshift food pantry is open for business.

00:08She opens her forest field garage to people in need five days a week and shoppers don't

00:14have to pay a thing.

00:15It's grown tremendously with so many volunteers, so many more people needing the help.

00:22A tough upbringing inspired Athena to start helping others in her community.

00:27I was with my sister, so I helped raise her from the age of 10, she's five years younger

00:31than me.

00:33We had nothing, we had no food, we were lucky to have a roof over our house.

00:40All the fresh produce is collected from supermarkets and producers and distributed to more than

00:45500 volunteers by grassroots charity Feed It Forward, which was founded by Perth grandmother

00:51Monica Moringa in 2018.

00:54We're currently saving about 70,000 kilos of food every week.

01:01We're feeding more than 10,000 directly with the help of up to 700 community groups who

01:09are also feeding the community.

01:12For single mum of three, Cam, the food pantry in her local suburb has been a lifeline.

01:18With retraining and not being able to work or wanting to get a better life, you've got

01:23to do it tough a little bit.

01:25With the cost of living and the rental crisis and stuff, there's not much left over at the

01:32end of the fortnight, so this has definitely been a godsend for me and my boys.

01:37The charity now has more than 100 local food pantries across the state, an increasingly

01:43important lifeline as costs continue to rise.

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