Food Rescue Charity OzHarvest Continues To Serve Community During Coronavirus Outbreak

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 22: Market Volunteer Siobhan Moran prepares bags of food essentials for those in need at the OzHarvest Market in Kensington on April 22, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. OzHarvest Market started as a pop-up project in April 2017 after TOGA property group donated the ground floor space of the The Addison Project whilst the site underwent DA. Three years later it’s a community hub for so many, stocked with rescued food and powered by volunteers it was serving around 350 customers every day pre COVID-19. Now volunteers pack up 250 food hampers a day to hand out to customers at the front of the market. When they re-opened with this new system, customers in the line that day gave them a standing ovation. Regular customers say it’s their lifeline. Founded in 2014, food rescue charity OzHarvest collects surplus food from around Australia and distributes it to people in need. Food is collected from a network of around 3,500 donors including supermarkets, restaurants and food producers which is then distributed to 1,300 charities across the country. Since COVID-19 took hold in Australia OzHarvest has seen around 18% of the charities they support close their doors, either through lack of funding, lack of volunteers or confirmed coronavirus cases. All services that remain open are now reporting double and triple the demand. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)