Relief increase expected

An increase in demand is expected by Baw Baw Food Relief with the scaling down of government COVID assistance packages after tomorrow.

Coordinator Jan Davidson said challenges over the past year due to COVID, especially lockdowns that impacted its “army” of 87 volunteers at the centre in Warragul, had now been substantially overcome.

However, she believes demand will rise again with the end of JobKeeper allowances, reduction in JobSeeker payments and the finish of the moratorium on rental payments that could lead to evictions.

Longwarry and District Lions Club Food Relief co-ordinator Debbie Brown said the agency had been “flat out” over the past year.

It is helping more than 600 people each week with deliveries of hampers and prepared meals and provides up to 200 rounds of sandwiches each fortnight to district schools for children that may have missed a meal.

Ms Brown said she was waiting to see what the impacts of the end to JobKeeper and cut to JobSeeker would mean.

Longwarry Food Relief serves mainly people in Baw Baw Shire but has also responded to calls for assistance from as far away as Pakenham and the Latrobe Valley.

Ms Brown said had noticed more men were now seeking food assistance.

Ms Davidson said things had changed considerably in the Warragul area over the past year or so with many more people not having food security and a swelling number of homeless.