Banksia Gardens Community Services

Community Pantry

Community Pantry

The Community Pantry provides much needed material aid to families and individuals experiencing difficulties in the local Hume community. The program started as a small support program for a handful of learners in our adult education programs who were experiencing significant poverty, and became a steady flow every week when the pandemic hit. As the ...

GOAL

$5,000

Australia > VIC > Metro
02/01/2020 > 30/06/2025

Field of Interest

  • Individual/family services and support
  • Social inclusion and justice

Target Population

  • People experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or vulnerability
  • Asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and people from CALD backgrounds
Banksia Gardens Community Services Banksia Gardens Community Services

Since 1979 Banksia Gardens Community Services has delivered programs and services to low-income residents in the Public Housing Estate adjacent to our centre, to disadvantaged individuals, groups and communities in Broadmeadows, and to communities across Hume in Melbourne's north. We are a charitable organisation, a neighbourhood house, and a community services organisation assisting over 80,000 people annually.

Banksia Gardens' vision and primary objective is to eradicate poverty and disadvantage from our community. We provide education, training, community development and individual support programs for local residents, building social cohesion, and reducing disadvantage for people of all ages, cultural backgrounds and beliefs.

Project Summary

The Community Pantry provides much needed material aid to families and individuals experiencing difficulties in the local Hume community. The program started as a small support program for a handful of learners in our adult education programs who were experiencing significant poverty, and became a steady flow every week when the pandemic hit. As the cost of living pressures continue to impact the Hume community the demand of the program continues to exceed our supplies.

In the 2022-2023 financial year, the Community Pantry at Banksia Gardens supplied 12,500 packages of material aid (food and essential household items) to the community across our Broadmeadows and Meadows Heights sites.

Project Outcomes

As the demand for the Community Pantry continues to grow, our aim is to continue providing material aid packages (food and essential household items) to members of the local Hume City Council Community who need it the most. We prioritise community members with Health Care cards, Bridging Visas, those seeking asylum and international students.

Each week we provide over 100 material aid packages to local community members. We also hold periodic food markets and op shops to extend the reach of our support. With increased funding we will be able to increase the reach of this program even further.

Budget Breakdown

TOTAL BUDGET: $95,000
FUNDING
Funding source Amount
Freemasons Foundation (confirmed) $38,000
Donations (unconfirmed) $10,000
Funding applications (unconfirmed) $37,000
In-kind support (confirmed) $10,000
Funding gap (unconfirmed) $5,000
EXPENSES
Expense item Amount
Wages (including on costs) - 2x part-time staff $70,000
Material Aid Supplies (food and essential household items) $15,000
Volunteers (in-kind) $10,000

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Contact Us
Level 6, 126 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne VIC 3002

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live, learn and work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

Australian Communities Foundation is a proudly inclusive organisation and an ally of LGBTQIA+ communities and the movement toward equality.