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Dolmio celebrates Foodbank volunteers

Dolmio delighted 70 Foodbank volunteers with a Spag Bol lunch to say thank you for their hard work.

This comes following recent statistics from Foodbank that, approximately 210,000 hours of volunteer time – with a value of around $4.9 million1 – were “donated” to help them tackle food insecurity in 2023.

The lunch was held to recognise the important role of Foodbank volunteers in the lead up to National Volunteers Week (20-26th May) – with the DOLMIO team rolling up their sleeves to serve the Dolmio Bolognese feast, with a side-helping of heartfelt thanks.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey said volunteers are an integral part of addressing food insecurity, especially as the number of households affected continues to rise.

“Volunteers are a vital part of Foodbank services, and without them, it simply wouldn’t be possible to reach as many members of the community needing help as we do,” she said.

Casey said Foodbank is thankful to Dolmio for celebrating its volunteers, putting the spotlight on their value and helping them to feel appreciated.

“We are grateful to Dolmio for supporting our work for the fourth consecutive year. In
addition to celebrating our volunteers they have been producing a dedicated, regular
supply of much-needed meal sauces as part of our Collaborative Supply Program,” she said.

“As we often have to operate with a ‘Surprise Chain’ of ad hoc donations, these regular and
purpose-made donations are vital to ensure we have a consistent supply of household favourites available all year.”

“At Dolmio, we are passionate about food. We believe that the joy of connecting over food should be something that everyone gets to enjoy. Sadly, there are an increasing number of Australian’s who are struggling,” said general manager of Mars Food & Nutrition Australia, Bill Heague,

“This means, at the very least, they are reducing the quality, variety, or desirability of their food and at worst, their eating patterns are disrupted. Foodbank volunteers play a critical role in helping to make a meaningful difference to food insecurity across Australia.

“From packing orders of food and grocery items; delivering hampers to those in need and
distributing fresh food at pop-up markets – the volunteers at Foodbank do it all and should rightly be celebrated this National Volunteer Week.

“We are proud to be working with Foodbank and their dedicated volunteers through the
Foodbank Collaborative Supply Program to help deliver 3.2 million meals in 2024 – including jars of Dolmio pasta sauce.”

According to Volunteering Australia, over half of Australians (56.7 per cent) had participated in
volunteering activities in 2022. And according to National Accounts, volunteering was estimated to have an imputed value of $17.3 billion.

For anyone who is interest in finding out more about volunteering at Foodbank, you can visit www.foodbank.org.au/support-us

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