Pandemic sends hundreds of families in need to charity
An Adelaide charity is battling to keep up with a flood of calls for help as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put pressure on families.
The Puddle Jumpers offer weekly food drops to families in need, but say the number of those who have asked for help skyrocketed in the past year.
"Before COVID hit, we were working with around 300 families a week, providing them with weekly food assistance, and it just exploded all over the place," Puddle Jumpers CEO Melanie Tate said.
A South Australian charity says the pandemic has led to more and more families being in need of help. 9News
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"Pleas for help from everywhere, and it went up to about 1000 families a week."
With cuts to JobKeeper and JobSeeker coming at the end of March, there are fears charities will be swamped as even more South Australians come to need help.
Ms Tate said she was "absolutely concerned" about what was coming.
"We're setting up a little food hub in the middle of Port Road, and that's in the hope of trying to help families outside of the food drives as well, and in preparation and readiness for when the JobKeeper payments are cut," she said.
The charity offers food parcels for a gold coin donation. 9News
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Volunteer El Payne said it had "eye-opening and somewhat scary" to see how quickly things had changed.
Puddle Jumpers is running a February food drive, asking for donations of non-perishable food, money, and even plastic bags to help hand the parcels out.
People in need can pick up a parcel for a gold coin donation.
Extra volunteers are also sought.
"It'd just be great if we could have a few extra hands on here," Ms Payne said.
"Even a small act can make a big difference in someone's life, even if it's for two hours."
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