For two months, food charity HelpingACT has run a fundraising drive to buy a food trailer to cook and serve hot food to the many Canberrans who go hungry every day – but have struggled to raise the $45,000 necessary, at a time when cost of living increases are biting.

Fortunately, Ginninderry came to the rescue, with the donation of a food trailer to HelpingACT this weekend.

“This is a dream come true for us,” HelpingACT’s founder, former ACT Citizen of the Year Mohammed Ali, said. “We had not even reached $2,000 on the fundraising, so when I saw the food trailer that Ginninderry was giving us, I actually could not sleep that night.

“It makes my job and the job of our 50 volunteers so much easier now, and it will allow us to take our barbecues to more locations across Canberra. It looks very professional, and has hotplates and cooking facilities on board. It is more than we could have hoped for.”

Every month, the charity holds a barbecue for homeless people outside the Early Morning Centre in Civic, as well as monthly curry lunches. Mr Ali wants to extend the barbecue program to the deep south and to the north of Canberra, where he says there is no such service. The food trailer would also be a way for HelpingACT to cook fundraising sausage sizzles at festivals and markets, and to take part in multicultural festivals in Canberra and Queanbeyan.

HelpingACT has forged a close working relationship with Ginninderry, which hosts annual community Iftar feasts and Christmas hamper drives with HelpingACT.

“We have worked with Mohammed for a number of years, and when we saw him begin his fundraising drive for a food trailer and what it was going to be used for, we thought it would be a great idea to donate our food trailer to HelpingACT,” said Marcus Mills-Smith, Ginninderry’s head of community, marketing, and communications.

“After being a much-loved coffee trailer in our first Display Village, it was sitting in a paddock waiting for its next life.”

Ginninderry painted the trailer in HelpingACT’s trademark yellow.

On Saturday, the keys to the food trailer, now affectionately known as ‘Foodie’, were handed to HelpingACT in a special ceremony at Ginninderry.

“Ginninderry has really opened a door for us and given us so many options,” Mr Ali said. “Whenever things have been tough and we have fallen short, we have had the support of Ginninderry and the ACT Government and we are incredibly grateful.”

HelpingACT was set up in 2018 to provide food security to the vulnerable (refugees and asylum seekers, homeless people, international students, and anyone else in need), and ensure that nobody slept hungry in Canberra. The Governor-General commended the charity’s work during the 2021 lockdown.

But although the worst of the pandemic is over, HelpingACT fears the cost-of-living crisis is pushing more Canberrans into poverty; demand for their food services has increased this year. Since last year, HelpingACT has had to fill food pantries twice as often, and double the amount spent on food.

Mr Mills-Smith said it was heartening for Ginninderry staff and residents to see the food trailer go to such good use.

“We know the amazing work that HelpingACT does, and it really aligns with our values and ethos at Ginninderry, which is that we are more than bricks and mortar—our aim is to leave a lasting legacy on the capital region.”

If you need help from HelpingACT, or want to support their good work, visit www.helpingact.org.