Greg Hebble has been CEO of Foodbank WA for over 10 years.
From a very small start in a vacant house in Belmont 25 years ago, it moved to a building in Welshpool 20 years ago and quickly outgrew that, before moving to a much larger facility at Perth International Airport.
For much of its history Foodbank has rescued food destined for landfill, but in the past 5 years the need for food has escalated. Last year Foodbank WA provided 6.1 million meals as food relief.
In addition this year 21,500 children at 490 schools throughout WA are being provided with breakfast at schools, every week! Teachers provide most of the volunteers for this. That’s up from 160 schools in 2009.
Demand has outstripped supply so Foodbank buys basic food staples to ensure it can feed hungry families, through its main Perth warehouse and five regional operations. It also has a new mobile Foodbank, with two more on the way, delivering food to people who find it difficult to access public transport. Nearly half the people accessing food via agencies like Vinnies and Anglicare have full time jobs, but still can’t provide enough food for their families.
National food companies donate and sell food to Foodbank and companies such as Westpork donate processed meat.
The main warehouse in Perth also has a commercial kitchen and most days corporate volunteers prepare 400gm frozen meals that are provided to local government agencies for elderly home care programs.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
There are three ‘staples’ - UHT milk, Baked Beans, and cereals/pasta. They are cheap to buy, so just Give a Damn and Bring a Can each week to breakfast. Greg Hebble lives a 3 minute walk from our breakfast venue and will take our donations to Foodbank every Tuesday morning.
WATCH THIS SPACE: A Vocational Service visit is being planned for May, to Foodbank WA’s main warehouse at Perth International Airport. After a tour through the building, we will be treated to lunch.