Major charities have teamed up to launch a food delivery service for people isolating under COVID-19 rules, as demand for food assistance soars, ABC News reports.
Of the more than 2,000 people who reached out to a West Australian charity hotline in the past month for help, about 680 — more than a quarter — specifically asked for food.
And among the people who cannot afford to buy groceries are the hundreds of people who, having been forced to isolate due to COVID protocols, cannot leave their homes to collect them.
The spike in demand has seen two not-for-profit organisations, Foodbank WA and Anglicare WA, join forces to offer a delivery service to provide care packages for people in isolation.
With Omicron spreading in the WA community, the service providers noticed an increasing number of people were calling Anglicare WA's Emergency Relief and Food Access Service hotline.
Many were in desperate need of food, unable to afford home deliveries and unable to access food relief services.
Anglicare WA's General Manager of Service Strategy, Isabell Evans, said calls had increased from about 70-80 a day, to about 100 a day.
"Demand has been massive – the vast majority of those calls are for food," she said.
"We've also seen lots of 'grand-families' calling through, so grandparents who are caring for their grandchildren.
"They are receiving a pension so they're low-income earners, some supporting six grandchildren at home.
"They're calling us because they can't afford to feed the whole family and obviously, they can't leave the house because of COVID — there's literally nothing in their fridges before they call us."
Deliveries began last week, with recipients receiving a dry good box, fruit and vegetable box, frozen meat pack, clothing and a COVID care pack including a Rapid Antigen Test and surgical mask.
Ms Evans said the service had managed to deliver 30 food hampers a week while operating three days a week, but hoped to expand to five days.
FULL STORY
WA charities Foodbank and Anglicare team up to deliver essentials to people in COVID isolation (ABC News)
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Two WA charities have teamed up to help people who are struggling to get the basics while in COVID-19 isolation. (ABC News: Kate Leaver )
