Benalla program unlocks access to vital food support
A Salvation Army program in a North-East Victorian country town is opening the door to food relief for people who have fallen on hard times.
The service in Benalla picks up SecondBite rescued food from their local Coles supermarket three times a week and runs a Doorways program where people can access the free food.
The program is a chance for people to pop in for a cuppa and chat, and receive support from Salvos staff if needed, as well as choose food to take home.
When SecondBite visited the Benalla Doorways program, the centre was buzzing with busy volunteers and the chatter of people enjoying a cuppa with donuts donated from a local business, and choosing SecondBite food to take home.
The Salvation Army Benalla Chaplain Wendy Everett said they ran the food relief service on Mondays and Thursdays and could have up to 120 people coming in to get food each week.
Doorways food relief program is helping people doing it tough
Richard is a regular at the Doorways program and said he liked to pop in for a cuppa and chat and also volunteered to help out.
The single dad said he’d accessed food relief from the program and it had been a great help, as he was recovering from a serious accident.
“I was in a car accident and have had 15 operations…I’m lucky to be alive,” he said.
Richard is a mechanic and owned his own business but has been unable to work since the accident.
“To go from high end income to next to nothing is hard,” he said.
Richard said being able to get fresh fruit and vegetables, we well as pantry items had really come in handy.
“The food relief has made a big difference,’’ he said.
“These guys (at The Salvation Army) have been really helpful. They do wonders.”
Program provides a sense of pride for volunteers
The Salvation Army food relief program is also helping to give a sense of purpose to its volunteers.
Gay started volunteering at the Doorways program this year and said she loved it, as it gave her something meaningful to do.
When SecondBite visited the Benalla Doorways program, Gay was proudly greeting people coming in for food relief and a cuppa.
How SecondBite supports The Salvation Army Benalla
In the 2024/25 financial year, The Salvation Army Benalla received more than 14,600kgs of food rescued through SecondBite from their local Coles supermarket.
The rescued fruit and vegetables are picked up from Coles by volunteer drivers, sorted by the volunteers and placed out onto tables for food relief clients to choose from.
Chaplain Wendy said Coles donated a good selection of food to their service, which ensured their community was “well looked after and well fed”.
Wendy said they also received food donations from other businesses in Benalla – such as meat, bread, milk, cheese, eggs and shelf-stable food.
The people accessing the Salvo’s food relief program range from young people in their mid-20s up to seniors in their 80s.
“We see all sorts of people, from all walks of life…pensioners, single mums & dads, families, young people,” Wendy said.
She said in the demographic of people accessing the food relief had broadened in recent times, and they now saw working families who were struggling to make ends meet and may have been affected by job losses or illness.
“With the cost-of-living crisis, everybody is really struggling,” Wendy said.
The reach of the SecondBite rescued food from the Benalla Coles store goes further than just The Salvation Army service, as after they finish the Doorways food relief program anything leftover is picked up by a volunteer and driven 60kms to Mansfield for their food share program.
A great example of a community working together to ensure no food is wasted and no one goes hungry.
The Salvation Army Benalla relies on SecondBite produce to feed people in their community, and your support enables SecondBite to help them meet the growing demand for food relief.
Donate now to SecondBite, and help feed more people struggling to put food on the table.