Charities have been assured little will change under new arrangements for the distribution of goods to food banks in the ACT.
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The ACT government will fund five community organisations to provide its Emergency Relief and Financial Support services to Canberrans following a refresh of the program.
OzHarvest, St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn, UnitingCare Kippax, The Salvation Army and Care Inc will provide food assistance, emergency material and financial aid (EMFA) and the No Interest Loan Program.
Rotary in Canberra used to receive grants from the ACT government to manage the distribution of donated items from Foodbank NSW and ACT.
Foodbank, based in Sydney, receives donations of food from the entire food and grocery industry and distributes it out to those in need.
The ACT government decided to call tenders for the distribution of the items in the national capital and St Vincent de Paul and OzHarvest were successful.
Food Bank chief executive Gerry Andersen said nothing would change for the charities who received the food to pass on to the needy.
The only thing that would change is that the freight company, Roadmaster, would be paid by the grants to the other organisations, rather than to Rotary.
"From the charities' point of view, nothing has changed,'' he said.
"We think Canberra Rotary has done an exceptional job of it to date and the ACT government did not understand or appreciate the pro-bono work they did.''
Community Services and Social Inclusion Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the new services would begin July 1.
“The refreshed emergency relief program will deliver better services for Canberrans in need. I am excited to welcome OzHarvest to the program and to see fresh fruit and vegetables be part of the service mix for the first time,'' she said.
However, Mr Andersen disputed that the new contract would mean fresh fruit and vegetable would be going out to the charities for the first time, rather than only frozen and dried food.
He said Foodbank had sent thousands of items of fresh vegetables, fruit, butter, milk, eggs and bread to the ACT in the last 12 months.
OzHarvest Canberra manager Dave Burnet said it was receiving government funding for the first time under the deal.
He said OzHarvest would receive $30,000 a year for the next three years to continue its work collecting quality excess food from commercial outlets and redistributing it to 67 charities in Canberra.
A typical week saw OzHarvest rescue between 9000 and 10,000 kilograms of produce and non-perishable food in Canberra.
Mr Burnett said it had a waiting list of charities wanting to receive food and he hoped more could benefit soon. He said OzHarvest was managing changes including introducing daily pick-ups from Costco instead of just on the weekend.
"We have been working with Vinnies for years, and our commitment to helping people doing it tough in our own backyard is strong,'' Mr Burnet said.
"With Foodbank supplies and OzHarvest's fresh fruit, veggies, meat and meals, we're confident Canberra will be a better place for many on these cold winter days and nights."
Pat McKenna, from St Vincent de Paul, said Roadmaster under normal commercial terms could charge $250,000 a year shipping the items from Foodbank in Sydney to Canberra, but had "greatly reduced'' its bill to $100,000 a year to take account of its charitable work.
"Our people are passionate about helping those in need in their local community and this service has been at the core of our work to help people break the cycle of disadvantage since the St Vincent de Paul Society was founded in 1833,'' Mr McKenna said.
"Last year we received over 17,000 calls for assistance from people within the Canberra/Goulburn region and were able to provide over $1.8 million in direct assistance to people in need.
"Our services will now be extended to support the Foodbank outlets in Canberra who provide high quality food stores to those in need at very affordable prices.”
