Warm Hearts Warm Bellies, a Logan-based charity that runs several community pantries and is dedicated to stamping out food insecurity, turned two years old last week.
Still in their infancy, the organisation has made big leaps and found success in the community, the founder and director of the charity, Pete Underwood, said.
Setting up community pantries, which have been running for more than a year, was a “no-brainer” for the organisation, Ms Underwood said.
“The flagship 24/7 Community Pantry we run at Browns Plains Kids Kindy is stocked every day with fresh bread, groceries, meat, and chilled goods that people in need can access anytime,” she said.
“We have other pantries located all over the greater Logan region, and it is my vision that they continue to be a safe and comfortable place where people do not feel shame about accessing food.”
Small business owners have jumped on board to help the community cause, including a barber shop in Beenleigh, By Order of the Peaky Barbers.
Barber shop owner, Samir Farah, said hosting a community pantry with WHWB epitomises everything his business stands for.
“A welcoming place where men, families, and young people can breathe out, get a sharp cut, a coffee, and a bit of dignity,” Mr Farah said.
“We see the best and the hardest parts of life from the barber chair. Putting a pantry on our counter felt like the most practical way to serve the same community that supports us.”
Hosting the pantry has brought barbershop staff and customers closer to the community, and has strengthened the culture of the business, Mr Farah said.
“The boys take pride in keeping the pantry neat, asking customers if they know someone who could use a hand, and treating everyone with the same respect, whether they’re buying a skin fade or taking a meal,” he said.
“We’ve had a young apprentice grab food to get through to payday, a dad pick up breakfast items for his kids, and a bloke on his way to a job interview grab a snack and a coffee, then come back the next week to tell us he got the job.
“The common thread is relief and gratitude.”
Similar stories have been shared by staff at Eagleby Learning Centre, who also host a WHWB community pantry, who said the service, which is stocked with fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, yogurt, and snacks, has benefited the community.
“We have a 16-year-old student who is living independently and has been accessing the pantry since it first started,” a social worker at the Centre said of the pantry.
“This student attends to get food, but also to connect with the staff, which has been lovely. He has really come out of his shell.
We have seen an improvement in his life skills, such as cleaning and making meals from the items he has got from the pantry.”
The charity hopes it can improve some of the logistical challenges its operation currently faces. Such as industrial-scale refrigeration to transport and store fresh, chilled, and frozen food to multiple pantry locations safely.
Securing an industrial-zoned warehouse, WHWB can use as their home base, in Meadowbrook or Slacks Creek, is high on the organisation’s to-do list and will enable them to carry out even more work.
“We would love a forever home that the community can come and access, as well as being used as our major distribution centre,” said Ms Underwood.
“There is much more I have planned for Warm Hearts Warm Bellies, especially working with the vulnerable in the community who don’t feel comfortable accessing the pantries on their own.
As long as Warm Hearts are around, there will be no need for children and their families, those living rough, or anyone in genuine need to ever go hungry.”
