The Allan Labor Government is making sure more Victorians doing it tough can get the real help they need – with more funding to support the delivery of free meals across the state.

Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards today visited Bendigo Foodshare – one of six regional foodshares receiving support through the Victorian Budget 2024/25 to help make sure no Victorian goes hungry.

“Bendigo Foodshare is making a real difference to the lives of regional Victorians doing it tough – you might not see it until you need it, but this organisation is putting food on tables and improving longterm community health and wellbeing.” Said Ms Edwards

The Labor Government is providing $6 million in this year’s Budget to the Regional Food Security Alliance and the state's six regional foodshares, located in Bendigo, Albury-Wodonga, Geelong, Shepparton, Mildura and Warrnambool, to help more regional Victorians access food relief closer to home.

More than 90 frontline food relief organisations receive supplies from Bendigo Foodshare, which delivers the equivalent of 1.64 million meals each year across eight local government areas – from Daylesford to Kerang.

Backed by more than 340 volunteers and staff, Bendigo Foodshare sources over 800,000 kilograms of food every year, feeding about 15,500 people each week.

Thanks to a $1 million investment from the Labor Government, Bendigo Foodshare recently moved into a new warehouse, tripling its storage capacity and allowing it to distribute more food, more efficiently.

This year’s Budget includes $18 million to expand food relief across Victoria including $9 million for a second round of the Community Food Relief Program, helping local organisations boost capacity and reach more people.

Foodbank Victoria will receive a $500,000 funding boost to deliver more fresh and chilled food to the regional communities – and $3 million to support its GROW program that rescues surplus produce from farms and diverts it to food relief programs.

Since 2020, the Labor Government has invested more than $74 million in food relief to give Victorians access to the essential when they need it most.