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Katie Woolf spoke with FOODBANK NT CEO Peter Pilt · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line is Peter Pills, the Food
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Bank NT CEO. Good morning to you.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Peter, Good morning Katie, and good morning to everyone who's listening. Peter.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: It's been a busy year for Food Bank, no doubt
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: about it. How did that Christmas food hamper drive go
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: in the end, to begin with.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Went absolutely fantastic. We have raised about six ton of food,
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: which is.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: We seem to have lost We lost you for a
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: moment there, Peter, what was that lost me? About six
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: six ton of food?
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, six tons of food and just the support from
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: the community, you know as they went into the to
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: the grocery stores and purchased food for our food drive.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: It has just been amazing. So to everybody who gave
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: thank you, to the to the grocery stores that supported us, Wallies,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Coals and Ida, thank you. And also to the corporate
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: so did food drives for us as well, which is
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: just great.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: That's amazing six ton to put that into perspective for us, Peter,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: how many Territorians is that going to support?
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Well, last year we packed four hundred and ninety Christmas
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: hampers and this year on the new CEO, so I
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: thought well, let's think it'd be bigger. Let's pack a thousand,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: and we almost got to a thousand, and then we
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: received an order for an additional five hundred and sixty.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: So ultimately we packed sixteen hundred hampers and then delivered
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: them across Darwin. Catherine Nullen Boy Tenant and I personally
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: went down to Alice Springs and delivered a hundred to
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Alice Spring So how many families does it feed? Fifteen hundred?
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: That is amazing?
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it really is just being great.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's phenomenal. What you know, that is just wonderful
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: to hear that Territorians have supported food Bank in that way,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: whether we're talking about corporates, whether you're talking about about individuals,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: no matter what, that is phenomenal. What sort of have
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: you delivered those hampers years? And what's been I mean
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: obviously you're have in some places. Are they all now delivered?
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: And what's been the feedback from people as those hampers
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: have been delivered?
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah? So every hamper has gone out now. Yeah, obviously
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: we're three days, three days outside of Christmas, and so
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: it's important that you know the hamps are already gone.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: The feedback we're getting back is just people are just
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: so grateful because they were facing Christmas, you know, with
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: food insecurity, and what we tried to do is just
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: put a few Christmas extra things in the hampers, yeah,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: bond bonds and you know, some lollies for the kids
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: and stuff like that. So some good stable foods so
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: you know, families can have a good Christmas meal, but
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: also just a few things to bring some smiles to
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: faces as well. And we've just found people just are
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: so appreciative of the gifts and.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Peter, has it been a busier year for Food Bank?
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: When you talk about the impacts of COVID we know
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: that quite a few people have either lost their jobs
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: or their hours have been decreased. How has that impacted
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Food Bank in terms of the need of the great
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: work that you guys do.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: So in the last quarter of the last financial year,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: our demand for our services was up sixty one percent.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: That equates an additional eighty six thousand meals being processed
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: in that quarter in addition to what we normally do. Wow,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: so the need is significant. We have seen a step
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: up in the need at the end of September when
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: the job seeker payment was wound back a little, and
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: we're expecting to see a significant increase come much when
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: it's wound back completely.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Peter, if there's anybody out there listening right now
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: who maybe still wants to make a donation or they
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: still want to support Food Bank, are they still able
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: to do that ahead of Christmas?
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: They can? What we don't need food donations right now,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: obviously the hampers have gone out, Yep. What we need
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: now is people are sitting there listening and saying, hey,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: I want to help if you could go to the
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Food Bank NTY website and make a donation of finance,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: because what we found in the past is, you know,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: the people that we've helped in the lead up to
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Christmas are still going to be hungry in January, and
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: so we need to now position the warehouse in terms
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: of supplies to be able to meet the demand come January.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: And it's such important work that Food Bank do. And
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I think that you know, you and I have spoken before,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and I've spoken and done quite a bit with Food
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Bank in the past, and we know that you know,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: very often people who need a hand up ahead of Christmas,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: particularly in this COVID year. You know, it's everyday Territorians.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: People have had a really tough year and if you
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: want to be able to help someone, making a donation
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: to food Bank is a great way to do that.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: And look, I moved up in January, very hard to
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: the territory, and one of the things that I've observed
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: in the territory is the leaning from the community and
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: from corporate to help vulnerable territoriums. And the sense of
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: community up here and the fact that we want to
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: help those that are doing it tough is just absolutely phenomenal.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Well, Peter, is there anything else we should know about
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: from the wonderful team at food Bank ahead of Christmas?
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Just Merry Christmas to everyone that's listening on behalf of
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: my staff, the incredible volunteer team. We would just like
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: to wish you a merry Christmas, stay safe and let's
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: hope that twenty twenty one is not like twenty twenty. Yeah.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Well, Peter, Merry Christmas to you, to all of your
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: staff and on behalf of the Northern Territory community, a
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: big thank you for the wonderful work that you and
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: your team do.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: No worries. Thank you, Katie, thank you