By JESSE GRAHAM
CHRISTMAS, for some, is one of the happiest times of the year, but the holiday season is looking grim for HICCI and its clients, as food stores dry up.
Healesville Interchurch Community Care Incorporated’s (HICCI) executive officer, Kerri Goding, contacted the Mail last week with a dire outlook for the holiday season.
Due to declining stock ordered through Foodbank Victoria and a drop-off in public food donations, Ms Goding said the organisation’s Emergency Relief program – where people in need could collect donated food – was quickly running out of food.
Emergency Relief co-ordinator Sheree Laumen said the stocks at HICCI were at their lowest point in over five years, and that many staple foods were urgently needed.
Ms Laumen said that, due to food offerings at Foodbank being lower than usual, HICCI was limited in what it could order to be freighted to town.
“You can only get a dozen-or-so milk, or a dozen baked beans, whereas before you could order as much as you wanted,” she said.
“That, together with a drop-off in community donations has left us in a bit of a tight spot.”
More than 400 people and families regularly make use of the Emergency Relief service, and over 200 people contact HICCI yearly for hampers of Christmas food under the program.
Ms Laumen said the Christmas hampers, made up of donated food, were a way of easing the financial stress that many in the community suffered during the holiday period.
“It means a lot to them – people often cry when they come in and get their hamper,” she said.
“It’s a blessing for them, and it’s a hard time of year – even if people don’t have that belief in Christmas, it’s nice for them to receive something like that.”
Ms Laumen said that, along with the annual Christmas appeal, HICCI was asking members of the public to come forward with non-perishable and staple food donations to help others from going hungry.
“People tell us all the time that it makes the difference for them to survive, coming to HICCI – they can pay their bills, get their responsibilities paid and they know that, if they’re short, they can come and get food from us.”
Ms Laumen said that HICCI had a shopping budget for its Emergency Relief program, but without the help of public donations, the demand for food could quickly outstrip supply – meaning some may go without.
“I buy food here – and spend a couple of thousand each month – but we’ve only got so many dollars to spend,” she said.
“It just means that we can’t give people as much as we normally do.”
A second blow to the organisation is uncertainty that remains about their funding from the Federal Government – Ms Laumen said their regular annual funding now had to be applied for, and that the news would come down by 31 December whether or not HICCI would be funded for another year.
If the funds are not renewed, HICCI would not be able to purchase food under the Emergency Relief program, and the organisation would lose all paid staff.
“It would have to be done by volunteers – we wouldn’t have the funds to purchase any food,” Ms Lauman said.
“It would only be what’s donated, and that is a miniscule amount.
“If the tender didn’t go to anyone else to cover this area, Healesville would have no Emergency Relief – it would mean people going without.”
She said that cereals, cans of tuna, baked beans, spaghetti, biscuits, cordial and herbs and spices were all much-needed staple foods, along with lollies, Christmas cakes, fruit juices and canned vegetables for Christmas hampers, and urged residents to buy a little extra in their shopping to help out.
Drop-off points for donations are located at Healesville’s Coles and IGA supermarkets, at the Healesville Community Bank, the Yarra Glen Community Reading Room and at HICCI’s main office next to the Memo Hall.
The Mail will also be collecting donations for HICCI at its office at 244 Maroondah Highway from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday until Friday 12 December.
