Rescued Food, Restored Hope: Anglicare's Food Rescue Ministry

While our Community Pantries continue to meet essential needs with affordable staples, there's a growing and exciting complement to this ministry: food rescue. This initiative connects us with local businesses who generously donate their excess food, reducing waste while nourishing communities across Sydney and beyond. Now, we're inviting more churches to join the movement.

What Is Food Rescue?

Food rescue is simple but powerful: collecting fresh, surplus food from supermarkets and redirecting it to families who need it most. Instead of heading to landfill, rescued bread, fruit, vegetables, and other groceries are placed directly into the hands of people who will use them to create healthy meals.

Churches Leading the Way

Christian, who coordinates the program, has seen first-hand the difference food rescue makes.

"Oak Flats, Berkeley, Nowra and Denham Court Anglican Churches have all come on board to take over collecting from various Coles stores," he shares. 

"Shoppers love being able to add fresh produce like mushrooms or bananas to their pantry staples. It makes everyday meals more nourishing."

The Impact So Far

Since October 2024, when the first weekly collections began at Mt Druitt Aldi, the numbers have grown rapidly. By 15 September 2025, 12,070 kg of food had been diverted from landfill, the equivalent of thousands of meals for local households.

• Most rescued food - bread.
• Next - fruit and vegetables.
• Plus a variety of other groceries in good condition.

This food, still perfectly edible, is now feeding families instead of going to waste.

More Than Meals: Building Community

For Christian, the impact goes beyond food. "The rescued food encourages shoppers to come for both long-life and fresh items in one stop. While a pantry bag has a small cost, the rescued food is given out for free. It's a powerful way for churches to connect with people through generosity and love, and ultimately to connect them with Jesus.”

How You Can Help

The vision is for more churches to get involved by partnering with their local Coles or Aldi to run weekly collections.
Interested? Contact us today.

Email us: foodrescue@anglicare.org.au

It's a simple way to make a big difference: rescuing food, caring for people, and reducing waste while sharing the love of Christ.