Central Park Mall joined Foodbank NSW & ACT to provide free lunch to their customers from February 13 to 26, between 11am and 3pm.
The partnership between the establishment and not-for-profit aims to drive awareness of the ongoing hunger crisis in the country, which has affected one in six people during the last 12 months.
Foodbank NSW CEO, Gerry Andersen said the organisation is excited to start the New Year fighting hunger with Central Park Mall.
“Today’s lunch is a vital step in raising much needed funds for Foodbank and shining a light on Australia’s hidden issue of food insecurity. Each month, [the organisation] assists more than 81,800 adults and children. However, it is an unfortunate fact that each month more than 7,000 people in NSW and the ACT cannot be assisted due to lack of food and resources,” announced Andersen.
“Foodbank, with the help of our incredible supporters and volunteers, work hard to deliver food to communities in need — and are appreciative to have the support of Central Park Mall customers.”
Central Park Mall’s food court establishments will include SumoSalad, Guzman y Gomez, including Din Tai Fung restaurant and Sushizilla sushi train. The latest project also coincided with the opening of Soul Origin on the ground floor.
“The fact that one in six Australians are facing food insecurity on a daily basis suggests it’s never been more important to support hunger relief charities and I’m very pleased Central Park Mall is able to work with Foodbank on this great initiative,” said Central Park retail asset manager, Felicity Armstrong.
Diners can claim the free lunch by simply providing a gold coin donation to Foodbank and signing up on their email newsletter in the centre. They then get to select from menu items provided by the level 2 food court retailers.
Foodbank provides food to more than 3,900 charities and schools, who distribute it to people in need of food relief. Providing food for up to 166,000 meals a day, they offer food relief for the 2,000,000 Australians who seek their services each year. In NSW alone, Foodbank helps 129,000 families and individuals every week, providing 29,500 meals a day.
The smallest of donations from customers can provide food relief in a number of ways: 50c provides a meal to someone in need; $1 enables Foodbank to distribute $8 worth of groceries to charities and schools and $2 provides a meal to a family of four.
100 per cent of the proceeds from the free lunch will go towards Foodbank’s ongoing work in NSW and ACT to not only address immediate nutrition needs, but contribute to waste reduction and individuals’ improvements in health, emotional well-being, social relationships, and overall standard of living.