Big Yellow Umbrella needs your help to feed vulnerable families

The local charity - formerly known as Camden Community Connections - recently opened its new pantry in Narellan and the organisation is already run off its feet.

Chief operations officer Kim Landouw said the number of families utilising Big Yellow Umbrella's hampers had more than tripled since the beginning of the pandemic.

"We're currently serving around 75 families per week with free food hampers, while before it was around 25 a fortnight," she said.

"Through the office of Gladys Berejiklian and Camden MP Peter Sidgreaves, we were donated a grant to fit-out the premises where we are now, and the rent is gifted to us by Camden Council.

"We're so appreciative of what we've be given, but at the same time we're still struggling to meet the need.

"The community is getting behind us and helping us to keep our pantry full, but we still don't have enough. We're always struggling for food."

Ms Landouw said, in addition to Big Yellow Umbrella's partnerships with Second Bite and OzHarvest through Coles stores in Harrington Park, Camden and Narellan, and Narellan ALDI, several small businesses regularly donated food items as well.

"It's only if these places have low sales in a week that they have items to donate to us," she said. "Sometimes our volunteer drivers will go to the stores and if they've had a good week of sales they won't have anything that they can share."

Ms Landouw said she greatly appreciated the community members who had taken time out to drop off non-perishable foods to the pantry, including people who formerly received assistance from Big Yellow Umbrella.

"Some of the people we've helped have since gained employment and have turned into donors themselves, giving us back pasta and rice - the things they know they used," she said.

"We've got other people volunteering their time to help run the program.

"The people that require these services do so for a multitude of different reasons."

Ms Landouw said the organisation was looking to create more community partnerships, and hoped to launch an education program for local restaurants and cafes.

"Our goal is to get them on board to eliminate food waste and better understand sustainability," she said. "We want to educate the community that there are a lot of people in the region who are in need of food."