Nourishing communities one step at a time

How the Mobile Foodbank supports suburbs in need

Driving the streets of Perth, you’ll find a silent hero offering food relief to those who need it most. Welcome to the world of our Mobile Foodbank, where an ordinary van transforms into a lifeline for those struggling to put food on the table.

Not all heroes wear capes. Ours is purple and has four wheels.  

Launched in 2019, our Mobile Foodbank is a lifeline for those facing food insecurity in our suburbs.  

Welcome to a day in the life of our Mobile Foodbank. Every day this essential service embarks on a journey across Perth, weaving through neighbourhoods and communities as it spreads nourishment and hope to those facing food stress.  

The reality is that not everyone can make it to our Perth Airport branch, but we don’t believe that means they should go without. We made it our mission to bring nourishment and hope to them. 

We are shining a light on our unsung hero operated largely by our volunteers and so want to share with you a day in the life of our Mobile Foodbank.

At the start of each day, we conduct our vehicle safety checks to ensure our volunteers and staff can confidently deliver food hampers to our customers, before loading the freezer and van with the day’s stock. We review new customer paperwork to ensure all new referrals are included so no one is left behind. 

Our Mobile Foodbank locations are carefully chosen to be co-located with our charity partners. This way, if anyone turns up without a referral, they won’t be turned away without food. We believe that everyone deserves access to nourishing food, and we’re here to lend a helping hand to all. 

The demand for our Mobile Foodbank is soaring, and we’re working hard to meet it. Attendance at our stops is rapidly expanding. We’re introducing new routes and revising old ones to ensure that no one misses out on the nourishment they require. Sometimes, the demand is so high that there’s no stock left, and we have to change dates for some routes. But we do it all to make sure that no one goes without. 

From our initial launch in 2019 with just four locations, we now visit 30 locations weekly in the Perth metro area, spanning from Rockingham in the south to Two Rocks in the north. And we visit 21 locations regionally from our regional branches.  

Our Mobile Foodbank sites are truly special. Often, they’re shared with other not-for-profit organisations like the Street Doctor, Orange Sky Australia, and the Freo Doctor. Together, we create a hub of accessible services, a safe space of support for those who need it most. 

Mobile Foodbanks stock a wide variety of hampers, regularly providing frozen items, dry food hampers – which contain pantry staple items such as baked beans, rice, pasta and long life milk (to name a few) – and fresh fruit and vegetable hampers at a very low cost. Our Mobile Foodbanks also carry a variety of other packs, such a beverage packs (coffee and tea), cleaning packs and all sorts of other products that we’re privilege to be able to distribute.

Published on 4 August 2023.