Melbourne based charity Open Table is marking 10 years of operation this month, celebrating the incredible impact its volunteers have made by turning food that would otherwise be wasted into healthy free meals for people in need across the northern suburbs. 

Since 2013, this grassroots community organisation has rescued more than 125 tonnes of food from landfill, distributed over 26,000 shopping bags of fresh produce to people in need and cooked more than 7,500 fresh healthy meals via volunteer run community lunches. 

When these lunches were halted due to COVID lockdowns, this agile charity continued to support the community by providing free healthy food parcels to families living in public housing estates. 

Food insecurity continues to be growing right across Australia, with over 540,000 households in Victoria affected in the last year, according to Foodbank Victoria. With an increase in the cost of living this number is expected to rise, and the demographic to shift, as more than half of those households seeking help have at least one member with paid work. 

Organisations like Open Table who are providing free, healthy food in a community setting are becoming all the more important to everyday Australians. 

In addition to community lunches, Open Table run free produce markets in partnership with Yarra Libraries and Cultivating Community, and recently acquired an electric refrigerated van to ensure the team can save more food from going to waste across Melbourne, while keeping it fresh for our volunteer cooks. 

While the organisation’s main income is through project grants and donations, they have also commenced a social enterprise with their No Waste Cooking Workshops and have delivered over 80 sessions for local councils and businesses as a fun team building or community activity. 

Of course, none of this would be possible without the tremendous support from 37 regular volunteers, giving up their Saturdays to cook and serve meals to those in need, and provide a friendly smile and chat to those looking for some company. 

“Open Table wouldn’t exist today without the generous support from our community.” says Angela O’Toole, CEO of Open Table. “Every volunteer that’s joined us to cook at the lunches, all the food businesses that donate their surplus food, our venue partners that share their kitchens and community spaces, all our wonderful donors – we’ve been humbled by all the amazing support these past 10 years and will keep the food flowing for many years to come.” 

But keeping the lights on and the fridges running isn’t cheap, which is why corporate supporters are critical to the organisations mission. Phil Taylor, CEO of Pressroom Philanthropy is one of their key supporters. “We’re delighted to partner with the incredible team at Open Table and admire their unique ‘no waste’ approach to rescuing surplus food to feed those in need with healthy, free meals.”