Volunteer teams at Eaglehawk Community House have provided more than 10,000 meals to vulnerable members of the community since March.
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Coordinator Tracey Clarke said volunteers have provided four times as many meals as usual amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Neighbourhood Houses Victoria valued our community contribution as more than $1.3 million in the 2018-19 financial year," Ms Clarke said.
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More than a third of this value was derived from providing emergency relief, which has seen an increased demand in recent months.
"We are now producing four times as many meals than we were during that time, so the monetary value to the community is going to sky rocket."
NHV values every hour of volunteering in the community house to be worth $685.
Volunteers have been able to successfully navigate the challenges of stringent COVID-19 guidelines and increased service demand to help more people, Ms Clarke said.
Neighbourhood Houses Victoria valued our community contribution as more than $1.3 million in the 2018-19 financial year
- Tracey Clarke, Eaglehawk Community House coordinator.
More than 1500 grocery, fruit and vegetable hampers have been distributed, in addition to thousands of meals made on site and delivered to the homes of seniors and vulnerable people.
"Prior to the pandemic, Eaglehawk Community House welcomed up to 250 visitors each week to participate in art classes, Tai Chi, meditation and community meals," Ms Clarke said.
"Locking our gates in March to our regular visitors was heartbreaking, so we decided to start preparing, cooking and home delivering meals to people who had to stay home."
A dedicated team of volunteers also conduct welfare checks via phone twice a week, offering meals, hampers and personal products to those in need.
"The welfare check allows us to gauge how vulnerable people are travelling out there and provide further support if needed," Ms Clarke said.
More than 3000 welfare checks have been conducted since March, as the number of volunteer hours nears 20,000.
"We are providing between 500 to 600 meals each week to the community and this volume has not wavered in recent months," Ms Clarke said.
Eaglehawk Community House publishes a magazine, which can be found at eaglehawkcommunityhouse.com/magazine, with 2000 copies of the September edition to be released soon.
