Foodbank Opens in the WA Goldfields
7 July 2011 at 2:20 pm
Australia’s first purpose built Foodbank opened in the heart of Western Australia’s Goldfields this week.
Foodbank Kalgoorlie-Boulder opened on Monday with more than 50,000kg of food already available to welfare agencies in the region.
More than 70 people, representing a cross section of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder community, attended the opening.
The city is more than 600 kilometres east of Perth. For local aid groups this distance limits access, to not only shelf stable foods, but fresh produce is particularly difficult to obtain.
Foodbank WA CEO Greg Hebble saysFoodbank relied heavily on the support of community partners such as local business, government agencies and local aid organisations.
Hebble says the new facility will enable local welfare groups to access not only shelf stable food items but also frozen food and fresh produce on an ongoing basis.
Some of the features of Foodbank Kalgoorlie-Boulder include a bulk storage freezer and cool room, and a fully equippe kitchen capable of delivering nutrition training to schools and community groups.
The construction of the new Foodbank was made possible through the support of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Lotterywest, Goldfields-Esperance Regional Development Commission and the State Government of Western Australia.
Foodbank WA was established in 1994 as a Not for Profit organisation serving as a link between the food industry and over 600 community welfare agencies.
In 2010 Foodbank salvaged 2.3 million kilograms of good food that would have otherwise been dumped.
Link: www.foodbankwa.org.au
