Local charity Serving Our People has announced it will open two more free supermarkets at Kingston and Beenleigh.
The People’s Market at Loganholme has so far served free groceries to more than 25,000 people in just four months.
Founder Yas Matbouly said local demand for free food and essentials was “concerningly high”.
“A lot the food you see here is stuff purchased by us and continuously we’re needing to get more and more food,” Mr Matbouly said.
“And there are so many different stories about why people are coming in to get food: it’s either because they’re about to be homeless, or their rent has gone up, or they’ve been kicked out of their home or domestic violence.
“I don’t think any of us are really aware of what is happening at a grassroots level.
“And don’t think anybody is immune to it – this could happen to anyone.”
Mr Matbouly said it was sad to witness the issues some Logan residents were facing.
“We’re not a third world country so this should not be happening – no one should be coming in here,” he said.
“Charities shouldn’t even exist in countries like this.”
To further expand the charity’s reach, Mr Matbouly said he was hoping to extend the store’s opening hours.
“We’re only open three days a week – we want to open up more and help the community more, but we’re waiting on additional funding,” he said.
“We need more money, but I don’t think anyone is taking us seriously yet.”
Local mum Samantha Harris visited The People’s Market for the first-time last Thursday.
She said the store was a lifesaver, now that big supermarket chains had reached unaffordable prices.
“When you go there, one bag is $100 or $150 these days so every little bit helps,” Ms Harris said.
“We’ll save heaps of money on Weetbix for the kids, milk, bread and even nappies and wipes.
“And our rent is pretty expensive – we pay $920 a fortnight for rent and it’s just a townhouse.”
Local councillor and mayoral candidate threw his support behind the plan, saying there was desperate need in the community.
“I’ve had eighty requests for help in the last three months,” Cr Raven said.
“We know that food insecurity is the leading warning for someone who is going to be homeless – if you have to choose between paying rent or buying food, you’re going to choose buying food to feed your family.
“A lot of supermarkets do discount food and food hampers for $50, but because this is free and you can come every week, it takes pressure off the family budget so you can afford to pay rent and electricity bills.”
Cr Raven said the issue was widespread throughout Logan despite the city’s historically low unemployment rate.
“We’ve got the lowest unemployment rate in our city that we’ve ever had before on record at below 5 per cent, which is incredible,” he said.
“But we know there are still struggling to make ends meet so you need organisations like Serving Our People to really assist us.”
