Briony – Western Australia

Meet Briony and her 4 year old daughter. In 2011, Briony was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and had to stop working immediately in order to start invasive and aggressive treatment. She was also told she would never get pregnant, but despite it all was able to welcome her little girl into the world.

During one of the hardest times of her life, Briony turned to a local charity for food assistance. She was given a voucher to shop at Foodbank WA and was able to leave with a car full of groceries.

It filled me with an overwhelming sense of relief. At this time I would not eat food so my daughter never went hungry. It’s a very fine line struggling. Foodbank help me take care of myself so I could take care of her.

“She starts Kindy this month and I want her to be safe and secure. Juggling my existing budget is going to be tight. I know we have the basics. In the event I do struggle there are safety nets in place. Foodbank can help if our fridge and pantry start to look a little sparse”

There is a stigma in the community to ask for help. But in all honesty there are really vulnerable people through no fault of their own going hungry because they have paid their rent, bills, car payments or are providing care for family members that make it hard to buy food.

“Foodbank WA helps these people and its really easy to support them supporting the community. If they weren’t there you would see homelessness increase and families live out of cars. I would like to help change people’s minds about this wonderful organisation.”