Heathcote's food share charity is in urgent need of volunteers to keep the vital service operating effectively.
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The group helps out about 50 or 60 families per week but the head of the charity says volunteers are proving harder and harder to come by to keep things running smoothly.
![President of Heathcote Food Share Glen Cullimore. Picture by Brendan McCarthy. President of Heathcote Food Share Glen Cullimore. Picture by Brendan McCarthy.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/212676544/2f3d4f27-9e01-4205-a5a5-9cd992c2a194.jpg/r0_0_5568_3638_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Heathcote Food Share president Glen Cullimore has been in the hot seat for nearly five years and says in his time involved in the not-for-profit group, he is finding it trickier than ever to find people willing to lend a hand.
He said the group, which operates an op shop and gardening centre too, were not in dire straits but a few more sets of hands would go a long way to helping run a smooth ship.
"Volunteers are always in short supply," he said.
"We have people who come in all the time and say 'I'd like to volunteer but I just can't do it at the moment'.
"We never see them again.
"The volunteers we do have are putting in a little bit extra at the moment.
"I try not to overwork them, you don't want a volunteer that has got to be here every day of the week."
Volunteers vital to keep operation running
Mr Cullimore said the group had about 12 volunteers across the three shops, but he would love to see this number grow to 20 or more.
He said it was vital to keep the food share component running as long as possible given how many people in and around the town it helps on a weekly basis.
"We have a lot of regulars," Mr Cullimore said.
"We try to help on average 300 individuals ... that is maybe 50 or 60 families per week so over six months, you know, it adds up."
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Mr Cullimore said he could not ask for a better set of volunteers than those who were helping out right now but if they were constantly overworked they run the risk of burnout.
"We have two volunteers who are putting in an extra day each," he said.
"Our volunteers do a great job, but attracting them ..."
Mr Cullimore said anyone willing to lend a hand would be more than welcome to visit the shop and join up.
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