STUDENTS at Whitsunday Christian College have collected almost 3,000 food and grocery items to donate to the Community Food Pantry, run by Whitsunday Impact Church.
The Whitsunday Christian College students presented the food and grocery items to the leaders of the Community Food Pantry, Sean and Sue Spencer, at a special assembly on Friday, June 2.
The students combined their efforts in an attempt to give back to the community.
The month of May was designated as ‘food drive month’ and a challenge was created for each student to bring in the most non-perishable food and grocery items, to then be donated.
The Community Food Pantry was created by volunteers from the Whitsunday Impact Church to give food and grocery items to those in need.
The Pantry is open every Tuesday, from 9am to 12pm, and is available to anyone who is struggling to buy food for their family, with no restrictions or questions asked.
The pantry has supplied food to an average of 15 to 20 families per week, with approximately 600 bags of groceries having been given out this year.
Whitsunday Impact Church operates the pantry through its mission charity, Global Care.
Sue Spencer, from Whitsunday Impact Church, said children were skipping school because they had no lunch.
“We accept donations of non-perishable food and grocery items, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, bread and eggs. Any financial donations over $2 are tax-deductible,” Ms Spencer said.
“According to the Global Care website, on any given day, over half-a-million households in Australia are struggling to meet their food needs.
“For these 520,000 households this means, for example, they and/or their children have to skip meals, go hungry or eat smaller meals because they couldn’t afford to buy the food.
“Children are not going to school because they don’t have lunch to take with them.”
