The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our service - both food and financial donations have dropped by over 90% since February this year. Our key staff is a person seeking asylum (he manages the warehouse, food aid and material aid programs) is not eligible for the JobKeeper payments due to his temporary visa status. We have also been forced to cancel our annual Refugee and Asylum Seeker Recognition awards - RASRA 2020.

People seeking asylum in Melbourne, along with local families and students who now have literally no income to buy food, have continued to visit the food aid pantry at Friends of Refugees for help. City of Greater Dandenong has stepped in to help purchasing food staples till the end of August, but we need your help to keep our doors open.

The number of visitors to the pantry has tripled during this pandemic and it has been increasingly difficult for us to source donated food. We are struggling to pay our bills and our staff.

We need to raise cash urgently to pay our bills and buy food and provide emergency assistance for the many families and individuals who are now going hungry, feeling overwhelmed and unable to access help elsewhere.

Please donate what you can today.