Bendigo Foodshare volunteers will be at the Alexandra Fountain from 9am until 2pm rattling tins for much needed food relief.

Food poverty is a growing issue in Greater Bendigo, mostly due to the high numbers of underemployed people working in fluctuating industries like hospitality, farming and small business.

Single parent families and migrants were also more likely to be affected.

Families experiencing food insecurity will regularly forgo meals to pay bills, according to Bendigo Foodshare’s chair Cathie Steele.

“Previous well-being surveys from the Bendigo city council reveal that 25 per cent of residents in the City of Greater Bendigo have experienced a food crisis in the past 12 months,” she said.

Bendigo Foodshare is the only local service that receives and distributes vital food supplies to schools and community organisations, providing up to 1,000,000 kg of food to Central Victorians annually.

“We can only operate because of the generosity of our local region. Every donation we receive is directly attributable to providing one meal or more to a person in need, it could be your neighbour, colleague or the family down the road,” Ms Steele said.

Related: Federal government reverses cuts to Foodbank funding

Ms Steele hoped Friday’s efforts at the Alexandra fountain would raise $2000.

“That’s 32,000 meals,” she said, or enough to help the service for a week.

Ms Steele urged people to donate food over the next month or so.

“People going without food over Christmas is extra hard. It puts a lot of stress on families and kids,” she said.

“So we are seeking non-perishable food people can take over the holiday period and that will last. Things like pasta, rice, pasta sauce and tinned tuna. That would be really, really helpful.”

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