A PLEA for at least $50,000 has been made by a charity which supplies food for the needy over southern Riverina and North East Victoria.
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Albury Wodonga Regional FoodShare will contemplate cutting services if it does not get the cash injection.
Chairman Greg Hardham said an appeal had been made to Victorian Families and Children Minister Jenny Mikakos and member for Benambra Bill Tilley.
“We’re in need of a much more stable financial base, we get nothing from state and federal governments,” he said.
“We’ve been running on a deficit for the last 12 months and if it is not corrected we’re looking at drawing on reserves which we don’t want to do.
“We’re not seeking the world, we’re seeking as little as $60,000 a year, that would take the pressure off us.
“Anything bigger than $50,000 would make a big difference to us.
“If nothing changes before next year we’re going to have to review operations.
“I wouldn’t say we’re going to close, but we’ll have to review our operations and that may mean cutting services.
“We may not support as many agencies or open five days a week.”
FoodShare board members Jodie Kensington and Peter Muldoon wrote to Mr Tilley on Saturday to “ask for an immediate cash injection of $200,000 to cover core operational costs”.
Mr Hardham said FoodShare was exploring other avenues of fundraising by having a co-ordinator to look at that area.
Mr Tilley said he had been speaking to FoodShare for more than six months as well as Foodbank Victoria.
“The peak body is concerned our local group is over-committed, that a Victorian-funded operation is trying to service relief agencies halfway into western NSW,” he said.
“FoodShare locally is asking for ongoing help paying wages and bills and that means changing the federal and state funding model altogether.”
A Victorian government spokeswoman said Labor lifted annual funding to Foodbank to more than $3 million and that had a flow-on benefit for FoodShare, “so they can source and distribute food to vulnerable families right across Victoria”.