Foodbank

Our food bank currently feeds over 900 people per week thanks to compassionate people in the Australian community.

How to give food

Food insecurity is a significant challenge for families and individuals who have lost employment, cannot leave the country and do not have access to ongoing Federal Government support.

Thanks to schools, parishes, Congregations, dioceses, community centres (Addison Road), and NGO partners, including OzHarvest, SecondBite, and Foodbank NSW & ACT, we can ensure that people living in poverty have healthy food to eat each week. JRS would also like to thank the City of Sydney Council, the City of Parramatta Council, and Cumberland City Council for their support of and contributions to the JRS Foodbank.

To donate: please call (02) 9098 9336 or email: foodbank@jrs.org.au or zoe.grant@jrs.org.au Please also view the links below to see the many safe Drop-off Points located all around Sydney. The Foodbank List shows all the items needed.

Foodbank List  Click here for a PDF list of needed items.
Foodbank List 
Drop-off points Click here for a PDF safe drop off points.
Drop-off points

How it works

Every day of the week food comes to our community centre. Volunteers and staff sort the food, and package it into family-sized and individual parcels. A separate volunteer team then delivers the food on one of more than twenty routes around Sydney.

Between March and October 2020, JRS Australia has delivered 6,773 food parcels to an average of 684 women, children, and men per week. As of October, food parcels reached more than 900 women, children and men per week. The demand just keeps growing each month as people seeking asylum remain excluded from receiving essential federal government support.

Thank you for your interest in helping families and individuals obtain the food and nutrition they need!

COVID-19 Videos

Learn more about the amazing Australians standing with refugees and people seeking asylum. As of November 2020, the JRS Refugee Foodbank feeds nearly 1,000 people per week. Please note, the below videos redirect to our Facebook page. 

JRS Refugee Foodbank At the height of the COVID crisis, we adapted our Foodbank to make it delivery. Since the time of production, we now feed over 900 people per week.
JRS Refugee Foodbank
Marcelo volunteers! Marcelo volunteers the JRS Refugee Foodbank Australia and gives insights on the gift of helping others make it through COVID-19.
Marcelo volunteers!
Aussies donate food Schools in and around Sydney support asylum seekers. Many other Australians have offered critical support.
Aussies donate food

More COVID-19 resources can be accessed here including our Reflections from the Frontline series.