A new Ballarat program is ensuring children and their families who are experiencing financial stress do not go hungry on weekends.
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Salvation Army Ballarat has launched its Tribe Backpack program which provides school children in need with backpacks filled with food to take home to their families on Friday every fortnight.
The program is an expansion to the organisation's Tribe Lunch Program that provides 150 lunch packs each week for children who come to school without food.
Salvation Army Ballarat team leader John Clonan said the backpacks contained staple food items for family meals such as pasta, pasta sauces, tinned fruit, breakfast cereal, long life milk and muesli bars.
It is to alleviate any stress on families who may be experiencing difficulty purchasing food.
- John Clonan, Salvation Army Ballarat
The empty backpack is returned to school on a Monday and re-filled by Salvation Army volunteers ready for delivery the next fortnight.
"The items are for the family, not just the child," Mr Clonan said.
"It is for families who are struggling due to unemployment or financial hardship and to alleviate any stress on families who may be experiencing difficulty purchasing food."
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Volunteers are delivering 40 packs a fortnight to eight schools throughout term four.
Food hampers are delivered to schools on alternate weeks in a program lead by the Ballarat Foundation.
The original Salvation Army Tribe Lunch program began in 2018.
Mr Clonan said the program took pressure off teachers to find lunch for students who come without food.
"It is also about inclusion. Most children sit and eat with their class and if one student doesn't have lunch they can feel isolated," he said.
"The reality is kids will have better capacity to concentrate after they have eaten lunch."
Mr Clonan said the number of people seeking assistance from Salvation Army Ballarat has increased.
He said people were presenting with more complex issues and a higher proportion of females between the ages of 30 and 50 were seeking assistance than males.
"That could be evidence of relationship breakdowns. People on the disability support pension and JobSeeker are also seeking support," Mr Clonan said.
"Financial hardship related to COVID is the underlying issue."