A conglomeration of Central West organisations have joined forces to launch a distribution project designed to rescue food items from ending up in landfill.
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Food Rescue Central West's [FRCW] regional distribution project is pitting the resources of various organisations to collect 'near use-by' products from food businesses and producers to preserve and redistribute to a host of different charities.
The launch was originally scheduled for March [when the project began] but was delayed due to COVID-19.
FRCW ambassador Kate Bracks, who is a former MasterChef winner, said the project is a key outlet for local food businesses who experience significant wastage.
"The project provides anything you can regularly get from a supermarket, and will benefit families who are looking to save on their grocery bill," Ms Bracks said.
The project has partnered with the likes of Bathurst's Hope Care and The Greens on William [The Little Pantry], Orange's Food Care and other community groups in the Central West to carry out food collection and delivery.
Hope Care has played a key role in the growth of the project through the provision of a delivery truck, refrigerated storage and logistics equipment.
Operations and welfare services manager Elliot Redwin said Hope Care's contribution is led by staff at The Junktion and the Bargain Centre, two of the organisation's central initiatives.
"We started with a goal to save 300,000 kilograms of food per annum and deliver it to regional charities and in three months, we've achieved over a third of that goal," Mr Redwin said.
Mr Redwin said the success of the project has prompted Hope Care to seek out a larger storage facility for their food bank.
"The Carter Property Group has recognised the immense value of this project to the region by assisting us with securing a larger commercial facility at a fraction of the market rate," he said.
"This will give the project capacity to grow further in the future."
The Greens on William manager Rebecca Mathie said the project has also seen plenty of success, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
"We've seen an increase particularly in refugees and asylum seekers who aren't eligible for government assistance," Ms Mathie said.
"For this reason, we took away the requirements of a health care card and opened to everyone and as COVID-19 continues, we expect to see more families over the coming months."
The project services food charities across Bathurst, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange, Molong, Parkes, Cowra and Canowindra.
For more information, visit the FRCW Facebook page.
