Charities are struggling to keep up with the high volume of need for food relief this festive season, as donations wane amid cost of living pressures.
Trish Crossthwaite has been helping feed the hungry for more than 16 years at Wayside Chapel in Sydney's Kings Cross, but she's never witnessed anything like the current demand.
"We just don't seem to be getting away, or out of this situation, it just seems to keep on increasing," she explained to 9news.com.au.
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"That keeps putting more and more pressure on charities like us, that are trying our best, but it seems at times it feels like a bottomless pit."
Crossthwaite began as a volunteer at Wayside Chapel in 2008 and later took on the role of Community Cafe Manager.
This year alone, the cafe has served up 19,248 meals to the hungry, but Crossthwaite said there had also been an 80 per cent reduction in food stock.
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"Our food donations, we've always been very lucky and very blessed, to have some amazing contacts and regular donors, but so many of those have dried up," she said.
"They've supported us for so many years and they've just said we can't do it anymore. They've got commitments, they're feeling the pinch as well."
In the last three years, the charity has been relying on Foodbank Australia, something it's never had to do before, Crossthwaite explained.
"We didn't have to use Foodbank years ago, it was usually once in a while, now we're using them every month without a doubt," she said.
At Wayside's cafe customers can grab a bowl of mushroom soup or Thai green curry for $3. They can also purchase ham and cheese toasties or a dessert for $2.
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But as donations thin, the cafe has had to introduce restrictions on the amount of food people can buy and reduce its operating hours.
"To be honest that's made a huge difference, but something had to give, we had to do that to cope with the pressure," Crossthwaite said.
"You see your regulars but there are becoming more and more of them, the ones that might come in once or twice a week, are now coming in four times a week.
"There are faces I have never ever seen before, there are some with jobs."
According to Foodbank Australia's 2024 Hunger Report, around 3.4 million households experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months.
Foodbank Australia chief executive Brianna Casey said charities were seeing demand for food relief outstrip supply as hunger was no longer an issue affecting low-income earners.
"I think what would shock many people is the income levels of households that are now facing hunger," Casey said.
"We know one in five households on a median income of more than $95,000 per annum, are now food insecure."
Casey said 70 per cent of the charity's food came from donations but each year it was costing more to source and distribute food.
"We a very, very fortunate to have farmers and retailers donate to us," Casey said.
"But we also need government to be doing more. This needs to be an issue where there is real and tangible evidence of increased investment into food relief organisations.
"The level of funding support that is coming to frontline charities that are on the coalface of the cost of living crisis is simply inadequate and we need to do more."
With December 25 only weeks away, Crossthwaite has been raising funds for Wayside's Christmas Day Street Party through its 'Donate a Plate' campaign.
Each year, the event provides a free three-course meal to vulnerable members of the community, including those facing homelessness.
Crossthwaite said once Christmas Day has wrapped up the charity will then switch its focus to the new year.
"January is non-stop, people have no where else to go, we're the first point of call, everyone else shuts their door," she said.
"We have to staff up more, we have to get more food in, we just have to push through it."
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