In the past year, 3.4 million Aussie households have run out of food, with trips to the grocery store growing more fraught – even for those families that previously reported having comfortable budgets.

It’s one of the reasons Quest has announced a three-year national partnership with Foodbank Australia, the largest hunger relief charity in Australia.

Here, Brianna Casey, CEO of Foodbank Australia, shares why partnerships like this are so important.

You must have heard some heartbreaking stories in your time at Foodbank. Is there one you feel really illustrates why the work Foodbank is doing is so vital?

“There was a young child in kindergarten who was coming to one of the Foodbank-run school breakfast programs each day, but when all the other children were sitting down to have their breakfast, [the educators] would lose sight of this little girl, and they couldn't work out where she  might be eating her breakfast.

Eventually, one of the educators followed her – she was going out to the front of the school where her mum and baby sister were waiting. She was handing over the fruit or a piece of toast. It's those sorts of stories that break my heart, because that's the circumstance that this family found themselves in, where a five year old is having to find food to feed their baby sister.

The good news is that as soon as that particular school recognised what was happening, Mum and baby sister were welcomed to brekkie club. But stories like these stick with you, and they drive us to do more, and do better.

How do partnerships like this one move the needle for Foodbank?

This relationship is going to allow us to get an additional 30,000 meals for people in need. Australia has a hunger problem, and that problem is growing. We need to make sure that we've got food relief available to those who are going without. We're not just talking about homeless people living in the street. We are talking about people living in your street and my street. We are talking about households where we have two adults in full time employment. 

What’s a good day at work for you?

It’s knowing that we have identified more fresh fruit and vegetables, more protein, more dairy, more healthy foods, and a way to get that food into the community. We know we're supporting a million people a month, but we're barely touching the sides. So a good day for me is knowing that we've unlocked a new food source, or we've found a better, quicker, cheaper way to access food that we can distribute through the Foodbank Network and reach those families

Shame is a big factor for people needing to access food relief. If you could speak directly to families who might be considering reaching out, what would you say?

We're not here to judge. We are not here to question why you have found yourself in a situation where you can't afford to feed yourself and your family. We are here to help you through this moment in time, to wrap our arms around communities when they need it the most. We talk about food relief being a hand up, not a hand out. We're proud of people who come in and access this food relief. People are to be commended for taking that first step, and we want to see more and more people feeling confident and comfortable in accessing food relief.

What's the biggest lesson you've learned as the CEO of a non-profit?

I think patience would be one of them. Now that I know the scale of the problem that we face, I am frustrated by the slow pace of change in the government policy settings that are contributing to food insecurity in Australia. I find it really hard to sit patiently by, knowing that there are solutions that could be implemented. Hopefully, we'll get there.