Lighthouse Care – Supporting 75,000 per year families across Loganholme & Hillcrest since 2004.

For two decades, Lighthouse Care has been a valued Foodbank Member Charity, serving as an essential pillar within the Loganholme and Hillcrest communities. Founded by the Hill family, Lighthouse Care was sparked by Debbie Hill’s personal experience during a challenging period:

“My eyes were opened to a different world, and I said to my husband, we’re just going to give our lives to bring you hope. It was as simple as giving bread out of a van, and we just hoped to find three or four families that we could bring some hope to.”

Since 2004, that is exactly what Debbie, her husband Ron, and their children have been doing through Lighthouse Care. Starting from humble beginnings but eager to create a positive impact in the community, the Hill family began dedicating their time to delivering bread to those in need. This gradually expanded to include drinks and produce. As the demand increased, they moved the operations to a home living room and garage in Eagleby, creating a welcoming space for people to join Debbie and her family for a coffee. When the lease on the home ran out, Lighthouse Care needed a new space. Word got out about the wonderful work the Hill family was doing for families in need,

“We received a phone call from a local newspaper, and they did a front-page story of the work we were doing. And we got a call from PCYC saying you must keep going we’ll give you a small car garage and a cold room. And we started there, helping 30 families a week and within three years we were helping 300 a week.” – Debbie

By 2009, the operation required a large expansion to meet the increasing demand. This saw Lighthouse Care find its official home and own store where it currently operates from today. The store operates as your typical grocery market with a commercial fit-out and even online shopping, with click-and-collect or home delivery available to Logan, Brisbane, Ipswich, Bayside and the Gold Coast. All food is either heavily discounted or free to help struggling families make ends meet.

In 2023, Lighthouse Care supported, “75,000 families a year. We’ve also got our outlet in Hillcrest as well,” Debbie explained. Lighthouse Care’s incredible ability to support so many families is because of the hard work the Hill family and their team have put into the store and operations.

A big draw to many who know of Lighthouse Care is their $25 trolley, currently, they sell around 800 per week. The $25 trolley is full of groceries and essentials. Lighthouse Care also offers the ‘The Free Trolley Initiative’. This is a trolley that is available for struggling families who are in desperate need of assistance or are in emergencies.

Since 2004, Debbie, her family, and the Lighthouse Care team have continued to see the demand rise as the cost-of-living increases. Those who typically have never required assistance are now reaching out for help, as Debbie said,

“There was a lady parked out here one day in a lovely BMW car. She had white leather seats in the back and beautiful jewellery and makeup and she looked amazing. But she walked out of the car, and I just felt compelled to say, “I’d love to give you one of our trolleys today”. She burst into tears and just cried and cried and she said, “You’ll never know what that means to me”. So, whether it’s that person walking in here, whether someone who may be homeless. Everybody’s treated with dignity. That’s our core value.” 

The above story is an example of Lighthouse Care’s ability and mission of, ‘Making lives better so that together we can make the world better’. Lighthouse Care’s transformation from a small family operation to the incredible locations and operations today is a testament to the need for their services. With Foodbank Queensland’s assistance, Lighthouse Care has been able to create a place of hope, support, and encouragement so people’s lives can be transformed.

“To everybody that donates to Foodbank, I just want to give huge thanks, because you are making a far bigger impact in our community than what you realise. For me, I’m the one that gets the thanks. I’m the one that sees the tears. I’m the one that gets to give the hope that you don’t get to see. I just want to say that you’re changing lives every day and if you have the capacity. You should donate to Foodbank.”

If you are in a position to help Foodbank Queensland provide more food across the state to support Queenslanders in need, please consider joining the fight against hunger as a regular giver.