By YASEMIN TALAT
A NEW not-for profit organisation in Sunshine, known as ‘A Gesture’ is providing more than just one good gesture for the community.
A Gesture was founded in 2010, to serve families in need by supplying local charities with fresh food while also providing community members with hands-on training for the workforce.
Originally starting in the Hume municipality, they opened a new hub for food rescue and redistribution in Sunshine West.
Operations manager Russell Rogers said the aim was to help stop food insecurity across the country.
“I believe there is so much food out there that is accessible to people but they don’t know it’s there or it is generally thrown away and not given to the person in need,” Mr Rogers said.
The company has drivers pick up food and produce that would otherwise be thrown away from supermarkets.
The food is then brought to the warehouse where it is sorted and redistributed to charities.
“At least half of it can generally be re-used and pushed back out into the community,” Mr Rogers said.
Through their two programs, A Gesture has helped hundreds of families and individuals in need.
With the food they have collected through the Second Bite network they have supplied over 200,000 kilograms of food to over 3000 agencies in the last two years.
And through training programs have helped 1123 students gain access to new skills, helping a large percentage get back into full-time or part-time work.
For more information, or to donate or volunteer visit: www.agesture.org
