General News
10 July, 2026
Carisbrook Lions Club’s food share steps in to aid struggling residents
Carisbrook Lions Club continue to support residents struggling with food insecurity through their valued food share.
Carisbrook Lions Club’s “priceless” food share continues to create a space for support and connection within the community.
Every Tuesday, between 11.30 am to midday, volunteers hand out hundreds of kilograms of food to those in need.
The food share goes through 300 kilograms of fruit and vegetables each week, which is only a small fraction of what they provide.
Their orders to Ballarat’s Foodbank total over a hundred kilograms of yoghurt, pasta, chicken, milk, bread, and more.
It’s an essential service for the small crowd who gather at the Carisbrook Lions Hall, around sixty people on average, but not their only reason for attending.
Almost an hour before opening bags are saving spots in line, but their owners aren’t with them, instead they’re socialising nearby.
Organiser and longtime volunteer, the Lions Club’s Rose Lucas, said it had become an unofficial social club.
“It’s a chance to catch up, socialise, meet new friends and catch up with old friends,” she said.
It’s a social club that’s growing with increasing pressures on local households.
Continued from Front Page
The Active Living Census for 2025 found 22.5 percent of respondents reported low and very low food security — among the highest in the Loddon Mallee region.
In 2019, around 15 percent of respondents in the Central Goldfields reported running out of food in the previous year.
It’s increasing pressure which meant one person at the food share, who didn’t want to be named, said they would be homeless without the support.
“Every day I open the fridge, see the food there, and say thank you,” they said.
“It’s a difficult thing to admit you need help.”
Beyond the crowd, Ms Lucas said they deliver food to tens of people who can’t make it in person for various reasons.
“We understand that people do struggle but they still need food,” she said.
Ms Lucas said she knows first hand the challenges of “juggling” a budget — even sometimes using the foodshare herself.
That’s why she encouraged everyone who need it to “just rock up” on a Tuesday morning.
“I’m proud to be a part of it because of the amount of people we help,” she said.
“We all love what we do here.”