RACQ helps charity using wasted food to fight hunger

Corporate
FareShare, supported by RACQ, helps Australians dealing with food insecurity and natural disasters.

Australian households waste 2.5 million tonnes of food every year, or more than 4kg per household per week.*

These statistics don’t fully bear weight until you see how many meals can be created from surplus food in a charity kitchen like FareShare.

Producing up to 6,000 meals each day, FareShare gives food waste a second life by turning it into nutritious meals for those facing food insecurity.

Once packaged, these meals are distributed to homeless shelters, women’s refuges, community food banks, First Nations organisations and groups assisting after natural disasters.

During the festive season, RACQ staff took the opportunity to give back at FareShare’s kitchen in Morningside, preparing meals and packing food hampers.

RACQ Community and Sponsorship Manager Melanie Calzavara said Queensland’s largest Club was proud to support FareShare for the second year in a row.

“We know cost-of-living pressures are impacting so many Queenslanders and skipping meals is often the first sacrifice for families doing it tough,” Ms Calzavara said.

“At RACQ we believe no Queenslander should get left behind, so we’re proud to support FareShare again and help provide nutritious meals to those who need them most.

“Last festive season, 134 RACQ staff volunteered more than 460 hours to pack and prepare a total of 19, 312 meals.”

RACQ Volunteer Anthony Verna said the experience highlighted the importance of organisations like FareShare in supporting those doing it tough. 

“I found it quite humbling to play a small part in ensuring FareShare’s meals make it far and wide into our community to those who need them most,” Mr Verna said.

2024 also marked a major milestone for FareShare as it merged with SecondBite to expand their reach and better advocate for effective food relief across Australia.

FareShare General Manager Operations and Brisbane Head Chef James Fien said this new partnership, along with their other corporate sponsors will only strengthen their support of those facing food insecurity. 

“The merging of our community-led culture with the national scale of SecondBite will allow us to grow our production by around 700,000 meals a year and hopefully see us surpass two million meals in 2025,” Mr Fien said.

“We believe that every Australian deserves a nutritious meal, regardless of their circumstances or location, and RACQ’s ongoing support is vital to meeting our goals for this year and beyond.”

In the month of December, RACQ also donated 125kg of rations through a staff food drive.

*Find out more food waste facts here

Related topics

  • The information in this article has been prepared for general information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice or specific advice to any particular person. Any advice contained in the document is general advice, not intended as legal advice or professional advice and does not take into account any person’s particular circumstances. Before acting on anything based on this advice you should consider its appropriateness to you, having regard to your objectives and needs.

    Insurance products (excluding Travel Insurance) are issued by RACQ Insurance Limited ABN 50 009 704 152 (RACQ). Conditions, limits and exclusions apply. This is general advice only and may not be right for you. This information does not take your personal objectives, circumstances or needs into account. Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and any applicable Supplementary PDS before making a purchase decision on this product. You can also access our Target Market Determinations on this website.

    Banking and loan products issued by Members Banking Group Limited ABN 83 087 651 054 AFSL/Australian credit licence 241195 trading as RACQ Bank. Terms, conditions, fees, charges and lending policies apply. This is general advice only and may not be right for you. This information does not take your personal objectives, circumstances or needs into account. Read the disclosure documents for your selected product or service, including the Financial Services Guide and the Terms and Conditions, and consider if appropriate for you before deciding.

    Except for RACQ Bank, any RACQ entity referred to on this page is not an authorised deposit-taking institution for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). That entity’s obligations do not represent deposits or other liabilities of RACQ Bank. RACQ Bank does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of that entity, unless noted otherwise.

    RACQ Operations Pty Ltd (ABN 80 009 663 414 AR 000234978) and Members Travel Group Pty Ltd (ABN 45 144 538 803 AR 000432492) are acting as an Authorised Representative of the issuer of the insurance, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (ABN 80 000 438 291 AFSL 246 548). Any advice set out above is general in nature only, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before purchasing any travel products, please consider the RACQ Travel Insurance Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and the Target Market Determinations (TMDs) that apply to these products. Whilst the PDS outlines the Terms and Conditions of these products, the TMDs outline the intended class of customers that comprise the target market for these travel products. This will allow you to consider which products best suit your objectives, financial situation and needs and consider the products appropriateness to your personal circumstances. TMDs also outline matters involving the distribution and the review of these products. The PDS, Supplementary PDS and TMDs for each travel product can be found here.