The Seventh Day Adventist Church launched its new food relief facility Soul+Food at Wendouree on the 5 April 2022. Attended by church and local community members as well as Pr Graeme Christian, Pr Justin Bone, Ms Kallista Kaval, representing Minister Anthony Carbines MP, local member Juliana Addison MP, Cr Amy Johnson, Deputy Mayor, City of Ballarat and Cr for Wendouree.
The food relief program was launched in response to an increase in demand for support in the wider Ballarat Community. With the help of a $67,000 Victorian Government food relief grant, a new warehouse was constructed at the site. Run by volunteers, Soul+Food aims to be a center of influence by taking care of the physical, social, and spiritual needs of members of the community. While also creating new opportunities for local and regional suppliers to contribute to the program.
The new warehouse will hold fresh stock, frozen food, and other pantry staples. Visitors will be able to shop for what they need for a small $5 donation. Since the opening of the centre in 2017, the amount of people in attendance has doubled. Many of the people who use the service are experiencing unemployment, homelessness or domestic violence. With the rising cost of food and petrol, the centre even welcomes pensioners who are struggling to keep up with the cost of living.
The church started with the distribution of 25 weekly grocery packs and it has now expanded to 40 to 60 grocery packs per week. There are now eight volunteers who run the new Soul+Food centre.
Soul+Food also plans to be used as a space to run social programs and hold courses on cooking and nutrition.
You can visit Soul+Food on Thursdays from 11 am to 1 pm.