Public donations of non-perishable food have dried up says the Launceston Benevolent Society, as Coles commits to donating more stock to charities.
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Benevolent Society chief executive Rodney Spinks said they are beginning to experience an increase in the demand for their services.
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"It is starting to increase ... we are expecting that to be getting worse over the coming months and that's going to put a lot of pressure on our stocks which are already starting to diminish and get low," he said.
He is urging people to donate their excess non-perishable food supplies as the demand for services grows.
"We are not seeing as many people bring donations in, so if i could put a call out to the community not to forget charities such as the Launceston Benevolent Society because our demands are just going to increase, we are going to need more and more stock," he said.
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His call comes as Coles Supermarket committed to providing $1 million per week in extra groceries to food charities.
Foodbank Australia, who help supply the benevolent society, chief executive Brianna Casey said the commitment would help sure up their supply chain.
"We are under extremely tough conditions, we have a situation at the moment where demand for food is skyrocketing and at the very same time we've seen a massive reduction in our supplies," she said.
"This is going to help bolster our supplies to make sure that the 156 agencies that we are assisting across Tasmania can continue to access essential food and groceries."
She said Foodbank usually help 156 agencies service about 13,000 Tasmanians but they expect that number to grow.
"We are anticipating demand for food relief is only going to increase," Ms Casey said.
"We think it is going to increase dramatically and quickly."
She said they were working with all levels of government to ensure they could meet the demands going forward.
From Monday the Launceston Benevolent Society will be taking steps to implement social distancing.
Mr Spinks said they will continue to service their clients to the best of their ability but that it was also important to ensure the safety of volunteers.
They will no longer be providing their furniture or clothing services and will instead be focusing on food relief.
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