Heathcote Foodshare expects new truck on road by end of week after Friday's crash

A previous truck the group had owned for six months was written off in a crash on Friday morning.

That vehicle was covered by insurance but had been bought for half its market value, leaving volunteers to rely on one smaller vehicle as they called for donations.

The new truck is expected to pass a roadworthy test this week and could be on the road even as the not-for-profit looks to raise money to pay for it, Heathcote Foodshare's Robert Peachey said.

"We have had a lot of donations, some of which were quite large, from our community," he said.

A fundraiser will take place in October with the help of Palling Bro's Brewery.

The truck crash happened before two of the busiest days of Heathcote Foodshare's week, when volunteers visited every supermarket in Bendigo.

"We were able to cope thanks to the wonderful public of Heathcote," Mr Peachey said.

Meanwhile, Bendigo Foodshare offered to increase its pickups from four to seven days a week to help people across Heathcote, Axedale and Rochester, and to call for more volunteers for its warehouse.

Mr Peachey thanked them for their offer but believed Heathcote's group should be OK with the new truck and a second smaller vehicle that was not damaged in Friday's crash.

The crash came as Heathcote Foodshare experienced a rise in the number of people coming through its doors to between 600 and 700 a week.

Other groups were also seeing more people through their doors. The Bendigo Foodshare used to supply goods to about 12,000 people a month, vice president Michael Armstrong said.

That was three years ago. This year they estimated they will supply an average of 50,000.

"There's lots of reasons for that, but I guess it comes down to financial strain. We are finding that people are often underemployed in communities and that leads to financial stress in terms of making ends meet in a day," Mr Armstrong said.

Many people will go without food to make ends meet, he said.

"Food poverty can be unseen in a community, But Bendigo is no different to any others. We are seeing a real demand across the board," he said.

Mr Armstrong said Bendigo Foodshare was pleased to hear Heathcote Foodshare had secured a truck much sooner than anticipated.

"However, Bendigo Foodshare will continue to move forward with plans to expand its surplus food collection and re-distribution service from this week," he said.

"We feel there is enough demand to implement a seven-day service that can ensure the most vulnerable people in our community have access to safe, reliable, good quality food relief when they need it".

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