SecondBite is hosting its inaugural Million Meals Day on World Food Day next week (16 October).
The food rescue organisation is calling for donations to help it raise enough funds to provide the equivalent of one million meals to feed vulnerable Australians.
Donating $1 to SecondBite provides up to five meals for people who are experiencing hunger. However, all donations received from now until Million Meals Day will go twice as far with SecondBite partners matching them dollar for dollar, up to $100,000.
Million Meals Day arrives as new YouGov research reveals more Australians are food insecure, and the number is growing. In the past six months, almost six in 10 surveyed Australians (56%) say they have had to make difficult choices between buying food and paying for other expenses, due to limited financial resources.
SecondBite and FareShare CEO Daniel Moorfield says with this year’s World Food Day theme being ‘right to foods for a better life and a better future’, the Million Meals Day fundraiser seeks to action this call.
“Support for SecondBite’s Million Meals Day will help ensure that fewer people in our communities – they may be your neighbours, friends or colleagues – have to make the heart-wrenching decision between buying food and paying for other essential expenses,” he says.
“With the need for food relief growing dramatically across the country, Million Meals Day helps to address this challenge.”
On the day, SecondBite staff and volunteers will turn SecondBite’s Abbotsford HQ into a hive of activity, with a community of supporters hosting a telethon, making and receiving calls to process donations. SecondBite ambassadors – food writer and tv personality Matt Preston and celebrity chef Tobie Puttock – as well as SecondBite co-founder Simone Carson will be joining the team throughout the day to lend their support.
To donate and support SecondBite, visit secondbite.org.