At the end of April 2019, MKA Youth ran a Food Drive in collaboration with FoodBank as one of our charitable efforts stated in our 7 point agenda.
The funds for this donation was raised from the 2018 annual musical theatre production, Boys Will Be Boys. Approximately $750 of the funds were directed towards purchasing essential food for the drive such as rice, pasta, sauces, baked beans and soup, which made up around 250 meals. This was distributed across NSW through FoodBank.
"We decided to collaborate with FoodBank in order to raise awareness regarding hunger crisis in Australia amongst the youth community and encourage them to assist those in need," Treasurer of MKA Youth, Megha Sevekari.
FoodBank is an Australian food relief organisation, who aim to fight hunger by providing food for 710,000 people each month and advocate for 1 in 5 people who experience food insecurity each year.
Further information regarding hunger crisis in Australia
In 2014, The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) generated a report regarding poverty in Australia which highlighted that hunger affects a wide range of demographics, including 731,300 children, under the age of 15, who are living below the poverty line. This has resulted in an increase in demand from families seeking food relief from organisation such FoodBank.
One of the main issues that FoodBank faces is that hunger has remained an overlooked crisis in Australia. Consequently, over 24,000 children are unable to be assisted by FoodBank due to shortage of food resources that is financed by fundraising and food donation to the organisation. Hence, MKA youth's main effort was to increase awareness regarding the hunger crisis and donate food supplies that can contribute towards FoodBank's aims.
For more information on FoodBank please visit: https://www.foodbank.org.au/
