The Anglicare Pantry Appeal is an opportunity to support struggling families and individuals in the community by collecting donations of non-perishable food and essential living items. While most Pantry Appeal collections are run by schools or churches, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)’s Social Club started a collection to support vulnerable Canberra families. Beginning in April of this year, DFAT’s ongoing pantry appeal has provided multiple van-loads of non-perishable food items and toiletries to help stock Anglicare’s increasingly in-demand Emergency Relief services in the Canberra region.
“It was a combination of the cost of living, going into winter, and knowing how hard people do it in Canberra,” explained DFAT Social Club Director, Samantha Schwarz, as to why they chose to get involved with Anglicare.
“We wanted to do something ongoing,” added fellow Social Club Director, Elise Coorey, “as it meant we could get a large group of staff, with varied work arrangements, involved.” Accessibility was another factor the team at DFAT considered. “Everyone has to grocery shop anyway. Also, giving an item is both easier and makes people feel better than giving financial donations,” said Samantha.
Anglicare Emergency Relief Coordinator for the ACT Anglicare’s Emergency Relief Coordinator for the ACT, Rachael Tscharke, was thrilled to collaborate with Elisa and Samantha and the team at DFAT. “Our Emergency Relief services across the ACT region are under extreme pressure to keep pace with the current demand for food and personal care items”, she said. “More than 90% of the assistance we provide comes from community donations, so the generosity of groups such as the DFAT Social Club is absolutely crucial in supporting local vulnerable families. Elise and Sam have successfully demonstrated how a Pantry Appeal can be tailored to suit a large and busy workplace and I would encourage other organisations to get involved.”
The DFAT Social Club was looking to make a tangible impact locally. “Something we’re working really hard to do is making sure that, as Canberra locals, we support Canberra. We really want to help our local community. At DFAT, as public servants, we are really fortunate to have stable jobs and be looked after in a way, and this was something helping local people and grounding us here in Canberra”, said Elise.
While the DFAT Pantry Appeal is taking a temporarily break, with Elise and Samantha both posting overseas, their hope is that now that the process has been established, Anglicare Pantry Appeals will become a regular part of the DFAT culture.
For further information on hosting an Anglicare Pantry Appeal collection contact 02 6232 2488 or CLICK HERE.
