Host a Community Pantry

A Help Happens Here Community Pantry is a small, open-access food shelf located within a trusted and familiar community space such as a school, neighbourhood hub, sporting club or community organisation. Pantries allow people to take what they need, when they need it, with no forms, no appointments and no questions asked.

Community pantries provide practical, dignified support for people experiencing short-term pressure, unexpected costs or ongoing food insecurity. They are designed to feel normal, welcoming and part of everyday community life, reducing stigma and making support easier to access close to home.

Wide Bay Kids supports host sites through set-up, guidance and connection with local partners. Existing pantries can also submit an EOI to strengthen or expand what they already offer.

Become a Community Food Champion

Community Food Champions are local people who help keep food support visible, welcoming and connected within their community. Champions may be individuals or linked to a local group or organisation and act as trusted points of contact for food-related initiatives.

As a Community Food Champion, you may help coordinate or check in on a community pantry, share information about food support, encourage people to access services when needed, or support activities such as cooking classes and healthy food events. The role is flexible and shaped around your capacity, interests and community connections.

Champions play an important role in strengthening relationships, building trust and ensuring food support reflects local needs and strengths. Training, resources and ongoing support are provided.

Community Cooking Classes

Community cooking classes are free, practical sessions designed to build confidence, skills and connection around food. Classes focus on simple, affordable meals and everyday cooking skills that people can use at home.

Cooking classes also provide an opportunity for people to connect with others in a relaxed, supportive environment, helping reduce isolation while building knowledge and confidence around food. Sessions may be delivered as stand-alone activities or alongside community pantries and healthy food events.

Wide Bay Kids works with local partners to deliver classes in accessible, community-based locations. Individuals, groups and organisations can express interest in attending, hosting or supporting cooking classes as part of the program.

Healthy Food Events

Healthy food events are community-based activities that bring people together around affordable, nutritious food in a relaxed and welcoming way. Events may include shared meals, pop-up food activities, family-friendly events, or local gatherings that focus on practical food ideas people can use in everyday life.

Food events are designed to be low-pressure and accessible, creating opportunities for connection, learning and support without stigma. They complement community pantries, food champions and cooking classes by strengthening relationships and building confidence around food within local neighbourhoods.

Events can be one-off or part of a broader program and may be delivered in a range of settings such as community centres, schools, parks or neighbourhood spaces. Wide Bay Kids works with local organisations and community groups to co-design events that reflect local culture, needs and strengths.

Community groups interested in hosting or supporting a healthy food event are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest and take part in co-design conversations with the project team.

Why It Matters

Food insecurity affects more than what’s on the dinner table. In the Bundaberg region, rising living costs, transport challenges and limited access to affordable fresh food are placing pressure on individuals, families and neighbourhoods. For many people, support can feel hard to access, unfamiliar or uncomfortable to ask for.

FOOD: Help Happens Here responds by creating simple, local and stigma-free ways for people to access food support close to home. Community pantries, food champions, cooking classes and healthy food events are designed to strengthen everyday access to food while also building trust, connection and resilience within neighbourhoods.

By focusing on community-led, place-based solutions, this initiative supports practical action now while contributing to longer-term wellbeing and food security across Bundaberg.

Who Is It For?

FOOD: Help Happens Here is for individuals and families who may be experiencing short-term pressure, unexpected costs or ongoing food insecurity.

It is also for community organisations, schools, neighbourhood groups, sporting clubs and local leaders who want to be part of practical, community-owned solutions to food security. Whether hosting a pantry, becoming a Community Food Champion, supporting cooking classes or running healthy food events, local groups play a vital role in shaping support that reflects the strengths and needs of their community.

This initiative is inclusive and flexible, recognising that food security looks different in every neighbourhood and that the best solutions are built together, locally.

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