From today, Coles shoppers can join the fight against hunger by supporting Coles' national appeal to deliver nutritious meals to vulnerable Australians, many of whom are experiencing hardship as a result of COVID-19.
The national appeal comes amid new research1 released today from food rescue organisation SecondBite that reveals nine out of 10 of their food relief charity partners surveyed across Australia had been impacted by Covid-19 and more than 80% have witnessed an increase in demand for food relief.
Customers can show their support for those hit hard by COVID-19 by purchasing a $2 SecondBite donation card at Coles, with every card purchased providing the equivalent of 10 meals to Aussies in need.
Food journalist, cookbook author, TV personality, and SecondBite Board member Matt Preston said all funds raised will go towards SecondBite's ongoing operating expenses so it can continue to deliver food to help people in need.
"There's never been a more important time in our history to support SecondBite as we move into an increasingly difficult economic period for millions of Australians," he said.
"The SecondBite research shows a vast majority of our 1,100 charity partners across Australia are seeing first-hand the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable Australians. More than 80 per cent of surveyed charities are reporting an impact on the general health and wellbeing of vulnerable people."
As a result of COVID-19, Melbourne-based charity Port Phillip Community Group had to relocate its food relief operations to nearby football club rooms to keep up with overwhelming demand.
Port Phillip Community Group Executive Officer Karen Sait said COVID-19 meant the organisation went from feeding hundreds of people a week to feeding thousands.
"We typically support people with complex needs underpinned by poverty, family violence and lack of education and support, but now we find the newly-unemployed, students, people on bridging visas and people who are falling through the cracks of assistance programs are coming to us for help," she said.
"SecondBite remains a fundamental support to us. We could not carry out our new COVID-19 food programs without their additional support."
Coles CEO Steven Cain said now was the time to rally together and support vulnerable Australians via the Coles Winter Appeal for SecondBite.
"SecondBite makes a genuine difference to people who are doing it tough in our community, so we wanted to launch a Winter Appeal to help them with this important work," he said.
"By buying a $2 donation card at Coles, customers are helping to provide nutritious meals to those who need it most."
"To date, Coles has helped donate enough surplus fresh food to make the equivalent of 114 million meals to disadvantaged Australians via our food recue partners and have donated grocery essentials to the retail value of $7.9 million to vulnerable Australians during COVID-19."
More than 765 Coles supermarkets across Australia now donate surplus fresh food via SecondBite to around 1,100 community food programs that provide meals to Australians facing tough times.
For the next two weeks, Coles customers can pick up a SecondBite donation card for $2 at any Coles supermarket across the country to do their part to help people in need.
