By Parker McKenzie
Foothills Community Care has put out the call for more donations as the rising cost of living causes demand for their support, often from people who previously haven’t needed to access their services.
Foothills Community Care founder Stephen Barrington said the amount of people who have needed assistance since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has quadrupled at times over the past two years.
“Earlier in the year, we were dealing with a lot of people who are home with Covid or people who were ill, but we’ve seen that over the last six months people who haven’t had to ask for help before,” he said.
“People who are quite vulnerable anyway, they might have a range of issues whether it’s mental health or illnesses, with the last few years and the cost of living just tipping them further over the edge.”
Foothills Community Care was established in 2002 to provide a space where people can connect and engage with each other, as they address challenges like family and domestic violence, homelessness, addiction, poverty, mental health issues and social isolation. It offers weekly meals around the hills, while also offering other support.
Mr Barrington said the best items to donate are non-perishables items.
“We thought we’d put the call out again for non-perishable things like rice, pasta, tomato sauce, tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, Tuna, long-life milk, coffee, tea, Vegemite, peanut butter and also toothpaste and shampoos,” he said.
“Things that are staples and we can easily put together in a pack and distribute to people.”
Currently, people can attend a Wednesday night community meal in Ferntree Gully, where people can join for a hot drink, have a chat and receive food parcels from 4pm, or get a takeaway or dine-in meal from 5pm until 6pm.
Mr Barrington said Foothills is currently distributing 700 to 800 meals a week.
“In the past, we would have a lot of meat donations, but we’re finding that really hard these days and we have to spend a lot more money on purchasing meat,” he said.
“If anyone has any connections or contacts with a butcher, we’d love donations for that, or any butchers wanting to support us with meat donations.”
Donations of non-perishable items can be dropped off at the Community Bank Knox Group Ferntree Gully branch at 67 Station Street or a monetary donation can be made at foothillscare.org.au/donate.
Mr Barrington said people often think the support Foothills offers is to people suffering from homelessness, but their support is for everyone.
“An extra food parcel can make the difference between being able to pay the bills, pay the rent, pay the utilities and stay in their home, as opposed to going into financial crisis.”
For more information on Foothills, visit foothillscare.org.au
