In March, the Breakfast Club Redcliffe saw an increased demand for services, fewer volunteers and less donations when the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia, making providing meals for vulnerable people in the community a more difficult task.
However, support from Unitywater over the past few months has enabled the charity to continue its important work.
Breakfast Club Redcliffe Chair Michelle Gilchrist said the not-for-profit charity provided up to 250 meals a week prior to COVID-19, which were funded entirely by donations; however, during the pandemic, the demand for meals and support grew by 50 per cent, yet donations and volunteer numbers dwindled due to health and safety.
“Unfortunately, we have had to cut back on some of our core services over the past few months due to social distancing restrictions, which has been heart-breaking,” said Ms Gilchrist.
“But our support in the community was still needed so we made a few changes to ensure that we could still help those people that needed it most. These changes included providing meals in take-away containers, and some frozen meals.
“We had to find a way to operate with minimal volunteers, yet still provide an essential service to help those in need.”
Through its community program, Unitywater has provided much-needed support to the Breakfast Club Redcliffe, enabling the increased demand to be met.
Unitywater Executive Manager Customer and Community Katherine Gee said its support was designed to reduce the pressure on the not-for-profit organisation to stay open, especially during such turbulent times.
“The Breakfast Club Redcliffe is an essential service and because Unitywater knows what it takes to deliver essential services 24/7, we are proud to partner with them to support the community in which we live and work,” said Ms Gee.
The Breakfast Club Redcliffe said the support has allowed it to focus on attracting more food donations and provides future certainty for the charity’s offerings.
For more information visit the Unitywater website.
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