November 27, 2013
Demand for emergency relief in the South Burnett has inspired local welfare agencies to work together this Christmas to try to spread a bit of joy across the region.
“Because we are all struggling, we don’t want to compete with each other for support,” Centacare South Burnett co-ordinator Louise Judge said today.
Centacare South Burnett, South Burnett CTC, Graham House, the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Salvation Army and the Combined Churches of the South Burnett have joined forces to maximise the traditional Christmas “food drive”.
Shoppers are being urged to put non-perishable foodstuffs into the colourful bins which will be located at Shoppingworld in Kingaroy this week.
The items will then be pooled and distributed to families across the South Burnett.
“We want to maximise the support for the families that are doing it tough,” Mrs Judge said.
And there’s a lot of them …
A Queensland Council of Social Service report released this week showed that expenditure in two out of three “standard” low-income households in Queensland outstripped income.
QCOSS CEO Mark Henley said single unemployed people and single parents were unable to afford a most basic standard of living and were being forced to choose between foregoing essential items or risk slipping further into debt.
Mrs Judge – who has been a regional representative on the QCOSS Board for the past four years – said the position was even worse in the South Burnett as many of the government concessions taken into account by QCOSS when assessing income were only available in the south-east corner of the State.
An indication of the need in the area is the stockpile of foodstuffs kept on hand for emergency relief at Centacare in Kingaroy.
It is stored in an area nicknamed many years ago as “Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard”.
“Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard used to last two to three months,” Mrs Judge said. “We now have to re-stock it twice a week, and we have more storage as well. The ‘cupboard’ is now the length of the office on both walls.”
Mrs Judge said local welfare agencies were not only seeing people reliant on Centrelink payments; people with varying rates of employment were also seeking help.
“Some are genuine emergencies, some are a failure to plan,” she said.
Demand is also coming from flood-affected primary producers and families who have an additional challenge “such as sick child or someone with a disability”.
“We are finding that people’s needs are more and more complex,” Mrs Judge said.
“Often we find there is another problem. Asking for food is easier than saying ‘I need help’.”
And it’s getting tougher to qualify.
“Income statements from Centrelink are required by all agencies, even for food support these days,” she said.
Mrs Judge said all the local agencies have had to “decline to assist” at times although most have been able to provide some of what was requested.
One bright spot on the local scene has been The Pantry, which operates every Friday morning at the Christian Life Church’s centre at 22 Stolzenberg Road, Kingaroy.
The Pantry enables people to purchase foodstuffs at a greatly reduced price.
“The Pantry has been fantastic in enabling people to be more independent. It’s fantastic. All of us refer people to it regularly,” Mrs Judge said.
- Related article: Pantry Banks On Volunteer Helpers
