The IvyStreet team has been volunteering at local Surf Coast charity Feed Me Surf Coast for the past year, as part of the agency’s community values.

Feed Me Surf Coast is a community food market operating in Torquay that began in 2019. Focusing on providing food to those in need, and reducing the amount of food waste going to landfills, volunteers collect, sort, and distribute excess food from major supermarkets, cafés and farmers. Offering everything from bread to fresh produce, with heaps of daily specials, locals are encouraged to simply come in and grab what they need, no questions asked. Since 2019, they’ve saved over 128 tonnes of food from waste.

The project works off donations; whatever you can afford helps them continue offering this service to the local Geelong community. With no government funding, the service is funded solely by local shoppers in their market and costs over $100,000 each year to stay afloat.

Each month, IvyStreet has sent a team of volunteers to help out with whatever is needed. We’ve helped unload the produce from the trucks, cleaned the equipment, sorted through bread, vegetables, cheese and more … and then stacked it ready for the market shelf or for those in need to collect.

And each time we’ve done it, we’ve done it with a smile on our faces. It feels good to help out. The experience has been incredibly eye-opening and rewarding. Seeing first-hand the amount of waste companies create and how the produce can be put to better use gives you a new perspective on reducing waste. Learning how many people this program supports also teaches you the importance of saving food. The fact that IvyStreet allows us to take the time to be part of this program is especially fulfilling.

Volunteering with Feed Me Surf Coast has been an excellent way to give back to the local community we all live within and I’m incredibly grateful IvyStreet is helping our team to do this.