Suncorp Bank and OzHarvest celebrate one year of #savingwhatmatters
It's been a busy year for Suncorp Bank and Australia's leading food rescue organisation, OzHarvest, and this week, the Bank is proud to celebrate its first anniversary as partners.
Share
As part of the Bank's ambition to 'Create a Brighter Future,' Suncorp Bank and OzHarvest have been working together across the country to fight food waste and spread the #savewhatmatters message.
In the past 12 months, together Suncorp Bank and OzHarvest have:
- Helped deliver an additional 1.6 million meals to those in need
- Collected more than 2,500kgs of food during ‘OzTober’
- Opened the OzHarvest Brisbane Kitchen to help provide an extra 52,000 meals
- And helped customers fight food waste at home with the Food Savings Challenge
#A brighter future starts at home
When Australians waste food, they are not only wasting energy resources that went into producing and transporting food, but are also creating landfill and methane gas, which contributes to heating up the planet.
The most powerful contribution a person can make to help diminish food waste is to throw out less food.
Australians waste about
Rescuing good quality food before it's landfill not only supports Australians in need, but it also prevents one of the highest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Images provided by OzHarvest
Learn more about Suncorp volunteers like Sarea Taylor
Gympie local Sarea and her mum Kyla make the most of their early mornings, giving back to their local community by delivering food to those in need.
Two days a week, before the sun rises, Sarea and her mum rescue hundreds of kilos of good quality food and deliver it to those in need. All before Sarea starts her day job as a Consultant at Suncorp Bank’s Gympie Branch.
#OzHarvest fights food waste across Australia
Demand for OzHarvest's services has jumped significantly in the past 12 months and continues to grow.
With a fleet of specialised vans and dedicated logistics team, OzHarvest collects good quality food from a network of more than 3,000 donors, including supermarkets, cafes, delis, hotels, airlines and restaurants.
Committed to helping vulnerable people, it then delivers nutritious food directly to 1,900 charities (free of charge) across the country, providing for those in need.
Starting with just one van in Sydney 20 years ago, today OzHarvest has grown to become a well-respected national charity and has delivered more than 230,000,000 meals.
#Making a real difference to local communities
Following the partnership announcement in March 2023, OzHarvest drivers from across the country visited Suncorp Bank branch teams as part of a National OzHarvest roadshow.
The local team in Brisbane were able to help open a new kitchen which will provide an extra 52,000 cooked meals for Queenslanders in need every year.
The new facilities also allow for additional ‘Cooking for a Cause’ team building and educational sessions to take place, right next door to OzHarvest's Brisbane operations hub.
May Youd - Townsville Aitkenvale Branch
It was a wonderful opportunity for Suncorp Bank staff to gain a deeper, more localised understanding of food insecurity within the community, and how we can work together with OzHarvest to provide for those in need.
#Taking up the ‘Food Savings’ challenge
Suncorp Bank also collaborated with MasterChef star Khanh Ong in the Food Savings Challenge.
Activated in branches and across digital channels, the Food Savings Challenge was designed to inspire people to help save food and spend less money by reducing their food waste at home.
