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Ambassador Robert D. McCallum, Jr. (second from right) with staff from the Embassy of the United States of America present OzHarvest with goodies from their Thanksgiving Food Drive.
US Embassy donates Thanksgiving goodies to local charities
The Embassy of the United States of America has donated hundreds of kilograms of non-perishable food following their Thanksgiving Food Drive. Staff at the Embassy and affiliated locations spent the month of November buying all sorts of treats to be shared between some of Canberra's charities. Among the recipients were OzHarvest, Red Cross, St. John's Care and Salvation Army Drought Relief. It was a great day with loads of special treats being presented to charities who help some of the regions most disadvantaged. This is the second time the US Embassy has come out in support of the Capital's charities. In July the Embassy donated over 50 kilograms of superb food following their Independence Day Celebrations.
OzHarvest accepting donation from Ian McInnes (Parliament House IHG). Supporters Major Bob Garven (Salvation Army) and Member for Canberra Annette Ellis MP look on.
Photo courtesy of the Canberra Chronicle
70,000 meals delivered thanks to our latest donor Parliament House Catering by IHG.
It is with great pleasure that we can announce Parliament House Catering by IHG has started donating to OzHarvest Canberra. The food quality donated is of the highest order and nutritional value.Chairman of OzHarvest Sydney Anthony Kahn said "High quality food donors like Parliament House Catering by IHG, put you in a good position going forward and the partnership with Communities@Work has been a great success. This gives us the confidence to help other organisations of similar quality elsewhere in Australia to provide this much needed service". OzHarvest champion and Member for Canberra Annette Ellis MP made the official announcement at a function inside Parliament House on Monday. Speeches by Cindy Young of the National Convention Centre and Major Bob Garven of the Salvation Army were heartfelt and very supportive of our service.
60,000 MEALS AND RISING!
The last few weeks have seen OzHarvest Canberra really kicking into high gear with record amounts of food donated and distributed! Our regular donors have really kept us busy, with some new additions putting the little yellow van into overdrive! Homestyle Nutrition's large donation of 'Bub Grub' went to Karinya House for mothers and babies, while Time Foods in Queanbeyan kept us busy with drinks, pasta sauces and dairy foods. Fresh fruit, vegetables and meat from Southside Farmers Market has got plenty of people excited around town too! The past fortnight has seen us pick up over 2,600 kilograms of nutritious foods of all types and taking it to most of the 37 charities we visit in Canberra and Queanbeyan. Since starting in late February we have rescued 18,339 kilograms of lovely fresh food and saved it from going to landfills.Check out our list of donors (it's too long to put here!) and see who the wonderful businesses are that keep us so busy. As you can see, we are extremely busy with just one van and are actively seeking funding and donations to secure another. If you would like to help, please follow the prompts on this site or phone 62880709.
Terry and Dave show off some donated treats
Foster’s GROUP AWARDS COMMUNITY GRANT TO COMMUNITIES@WORK – OZHARVEST CANBERRA PROGRAM
Foster’s Group awarded Communities@Work with a community grant for its OzHarvest Canberra Program. Foster’s Community Grants is an important part of the company’s Community Program. Complementing the grass roots nature of Foster's community sponsorships and its employee driven community contributions, the Grants Program supports high-quality outcomes by awarding grants to community-building projects in the areas of wellness, culture and the environment.
“Foster’s received a large number of high calibre submissions, so Communities@Work should feel extremely proud of their achievement in what was a highly competitive process,” said Foster’s Communications Manager NSW, ACT & Asia Pacific, Liz O’Neill.
“We’re very excited to be involved with Communities@Work’s OzHarvest Program and about the potential the project has to make a meaningful and long-term impact in this community.”
Communities@Work OzHarvest food rescue program has delivered over 50,000 meals to Canberra’s disadvantaged since February this year. Maureen Cane, CEO of Communities@Work, said that every day in Canberra many kilos of high quality, nutritious food is thrown away while, elsewhere, people go hungry. “The program is the missing link between excess food and those who are hungry in our community – OzHarvest Canberra bridges the gap between surplus and need”.
OzHarvest Canberra, which is sponsored and managed in Canberra by Communities@Work, commenced in late February this year with a handful of donors. OzHarvest Canberra now collects from 50 donors and provides meals to 37 shelters and refuges in Canberra and Queanbeyan.
For more information about Foster’s Community Grants and to review the granting process, criteria and terms and conditions, visit: www.fosterscommunitygrants.com
Laurie Daley (Foster's Ambassador), Cindy Young (National Convention Centre), Maureen Cane (CEO of C@W), Sean Hugg (Foster's Business Development Manager) and OzHarvest Crew at the Fosters Community Grant cheque handover
DIAC Pirates Hand Over Treasure!
OzHarvest Canberra would like to thank the Department of Immigration and Citizenship for its stunning donation of profits from their Annual Trivia Night. The theme for the evening was 'pirates' and the crowd certainly struck gold as far as we are concerned! DIAC Secretary Andrew Metcalfe presented OzHarvest Canberra a cheque yesterday at a presentation ceremony held in the Belconnen Headquarters. Staff involved in organising the event were present and they deserve enormous praise and thanks for the huge effort needed to make it all happen. To the 600 participants on the evening we extend our heartfelt thanks and will make sure the donation will go to helping many, many people in the area less fortunate than ourselves.
DIAC Secretary Andrew Metcalfe donates trivia night profits of $9000 to help keep OzHarvest Canberra on the road
Canberra Southern Cross Club Shines!
Canberra Southern Cross Club, already a great supporter of OzHarvest, has started to donate excess food from catering events and functions at its venues to help us get even more great food to the regions refuges and charities. Every week sees food donations in the order of 400 to 700 kilograms being delivered around town and the Southern Cross Clubs donation will mean even more nutritious food getting to the people who really need it! What a great town! What great support! Thank You.
Share Lunch Fundraiser a Great Success!
Thursday September 4 saw OzHarvest Canberra hold its first Share Lunch Fight Hunger fundraiser. Employees at nine government departments donated a little bit of lunch money in Share Lunch bags to help keep OzHarvest Canberra on the road! The result was fantastic! Close to $2000 was collected and donations ranged from a few dollars to $50 dollars! We would like to thank staff at National Australian Archives, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Indigenous Business Australia, Disability, Housing and Community Services, Department of Health and Ageing, The Public Trustee, ACTPLA, Defence and the British High Commission for their fantastic support in this fundraising effort. Your generosity will benefit many, many people in the region! OzHarvest relies on the support of the community and this will go a long way to ensure we continue to provide relief to the many people we aim to help!
Thank You Bendigo Bank and Chamberlains Law Firm
The news just keeps getting better for OzHarvest and the people we reach! With the help of Bendigo Bank and Chamberlains Law Firm our future looks even brighter! Continued funding from both of these great supporters will enable us to expand our service to help even more people in need. OzHarvest Canberra relies on funding from our sponsors and supporters to keep us on the road and the contribution made by Bendigo Bank and Chamberlains Law Firm are a fantastic boost to us. Added to the wonderful support given to us by The Snow Foundation, the funding will ensure OzHarvest Canberra continues to grow. There are many people in Canberra and Queanbeyan who will benefit from your generosity! Thank You!
Fresh food making a big difference!
The past few weeks have seen OzHarvest Canberra receiving some wonderful donations of excess fresh food that has made an incredible difference to the many charities and refuges around the ACT and Queanbeyan. Fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs donated by producers and stallholders at the Southside Farmers Market have been delivered to a lot of very needy people in the region. Some of the charities are reporting that residents and those they help are getting clearer skin and a more positive outlook! How good is that! Southside Farmers Market is a big supporter of OzHarvest Canberra, every Sunday sees the van drive away with a wealth of goodies to be distributed those less fortunate than ourselves. Get down to the Southside Markets next Sunday between 9am and 12am and support the people who so actively support us! *** Special thanks to the lovely family who approached the Oz van outside the market and made a cash donation last Sunday. It was received with gratitude and was also our first donation from the public. Thank You!!
OzHarvest would like to thank the producers who donated; Melissa Honey, Felds, Glendino's, Desirees Fine Foods and Continental Cakes, Wyntrade Lamb, 'Sunnyside' Chakola, Ando Organics, Dicebro Fruit and Vegetables, Grandma's Eggs, Lost River Meats, Canberra Gourmet Foods, Gleann Na Meala, Yesteryear Eucalyptus, Theo's Greek Sweets, Len and Mary Lou Minty, Cowra Original Farm, Green Aussie, That Bagel Place, Happy Apple, Perfect Premium Potatoes.
Thank you to you all, see you again next Sunday!
FrozPak CC and Bunnings Warehouse Tuggeranong Donate Much Needed Containers
OzHarvest Canberra would like to thank FrozPak CC of Hume ACT for their generous donation of plastic takeaway containers. The donation makes our job that much easier as we need to transport meals of varying sizes to the refuges and charities across Canberra and Queanbeyan. Donors can now store some of these containers making the whole process simpler and more efficient. Along with the large number of 40 litre containers donated by Bunnings Warehouse Tuggeranong, they will help to ensure the food we transport is always in top condition. Many thanks to you both!
Bunnings Warehouse Tuggeranong donating containers to OzHarvest Canberra
Ginger Catering shows community spirit!
OzHarvest would like to thank Ginger Catering for becoming ongoing food donors. Ginger is located at Old Parliament House (The Ginger Room, Cafe in the House and Ginger Catering Functions) and we will be picking up lovely food on a regular basis. The excess food from Ginger will be distributed to some of our many charities and refuges to help them get by. Thanks to everybody involved in getting this great ongoing food donation to happen!
Queanbeyan Joins Us
OzHarvest Canberra is proud to announce that we have had our first food donation from Queanbeyan. National Capital Frozen Foods (FFD) have donated vegetables, fish and bakery goods to be distributed to the needy in Queanbeyan and Canberra. OzHarvest has been delivering a steady supply of meals to St. Benedicts Community Care in Lowe Street and this will add to the meals that support the homeless and disadvantaged in the Queanbeyan area. OzHarvest is hoping that more Queanbeyan businesses come on board in the near future as we are working with St. Vincent de Paul (St. Gregory's Parish) to re-establish a night-time food service to the homeless and needy in the area.
Embassy of the United States donates 4th of July treats
OzHarvest Canberra would like to thank the Embassy of the United States of America for its fantastic and very generous donation of food left over from their 4th of July celebrations held in Canberra.
Turkey, lamb, salads, frittata and fruit were picked up from the Embassy and delivered to a south Canberra charity following the event, and there was certainly some happy faces when they saw the range of superb treats! The residents can look forward to a few sumptous meals on the weekend.
Again, thanks to all who made the donation possible, and special thanks to Executive Chef, Peter, and John, who made it happen!