By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
EACH day a vast warehouse in Dandenong is giving away truckloads of free food.
About 70 charities, sports clubs and other community groups drive up to the Avocare warehouse’s front entrance to collect about 12 tonnes of quality fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, dairy products and frozen food a week.
Warehouse manager Keith Homan estimates about 5000 bellies are fed by the donations.
The food comes from a mixture of donations, contra deals and purchases from supermarkets, bakeries, food producers and Fare Share — an organisation that rescues wasted food from supermarkets.
From its supplies, it runs a mobile soup kitchen that parks in central Dandenong on Wednesday nights. Any stale fruit and vegetables are sent to a Drouin pig farm.
The Cheltenham Road warehouse gets no government funding, except for the money it gets for training up to 50 Work for the Dole participants at a time, who drive forklifts, load pallets, package and de-tag items and keep the warehouse running like clockwork.
Others are cataloguing and shelving discarded books from public libraries in the warehouse’s Book Barn. Avocare will sell the books and split the proceeds with the libraries.
It also runs English classes and hospitality, food handling, customer service, aged care and childcare training for its workers.
“We actually need more activities for our workers, so if other people need packaging or de-tagging done we’re prepared to do it for nothing,” Mr Homan said.Director Trish Keilty said Avocare was also seeking permanent work for its “job-ready” workers.
Avocare is holding a breakfast on June 13 for businesses seeking workers or free services. Details: 1300 665 756.
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