Christine Welsh, President, Community Pantry

The Sapphire Community Pantry in Bega is a volunteer pantry service offering free grocery staples to locals in need. Its services were stretched beyond their limits when the bushfires hit and in their aftermath, when local residents who had lost or been displaced from their homes and jobs needed extra support.

The service applied for and received a $50,000 grant to help fund better transport facilities to expand and improve community outreach capability.

Christine Welsh, Community Pantry President, said:

“Our Pantry works hard to provide food and groceries free of charge or at a minimum cost to those in need across the Bega Valley. After the bushfires, we identified a need to extend our services to some of the smaller locations in the area to assist people who have been reluctant to leave their communities – be it due to lack of transport, funds to travel, or trauma from recent events. This grant from CommBank will allow us to create a mobile pantry and transport food and goods to those areas that need our support most.”