Coronavirus pandemic puts generosity on show as providers offer discount and free groceries

Updated

Former casual dental assistant Mia Lam used to volunteer at Lighthouse Care, a discount grocery store in Logan, south of Brisbane.

Key points: Lighthouse Care in Logan sells groceries at a 70 per cent discount

Demand has doubled since the coronavirus outbreak

Brisbane Market wholesalers send out care packages

But when she lost her job amid the COVID-19 crisis, she found herself relying on the charitable organisation to help put food on the table.

"Just now, not having a job, I don't know where the next dollar is coming from," Ms Lam said.

"I am applying for other jobs but I'm just not certain how far a dollar is going to have to go at this stage, so having these guys here is just a Godsend."

Ms Lam purchased one of Lighthouse Care's $25 trolleys — an assortment of everyday groceries that came at a steep discount.

The co-founder of Lighthouse Care, Debbie Hill, is no stranger to tough times, having established the organisation after she recovered from a mental breakdown 16 years ago.

"We're here just giving love and hope, and doing our best that we've always done — providing food for families that are doing it tough. That's the core of our business and we love to do it with total dignity for everyone," Ms Hill said.

Her organisation, in partnership with national food charity Foodbank, provides groceries at up to 70 per cent off the retail price.

The "$25 trolleys" are made up of donated and wholesale goods.

Although customers do not get to choose for themselves, each one is designed to feed a family of four for a week.

"We normally do about 800 of our $25 trolleys every week — that's now accelerated to around 1,500," Ms Hill said.

"I think that's because people don't actually have the cash for anything else.

"People are coming in off the streets with no money, and there's never been so much demand, so much pressure on us, to meet the need."

Gourmet restaurant produce finds a home

On a weekday morning at the Brisbane Markets, it was far from business as usual.

The gates had become a checkpoint, with security guards taking the temperature of anyone entering.

Jack George, the CEO of Simon George and Sons, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler, said they lost half their turnover over the last few weeks.

"Obviously hospitality has dropped right off, and restaurants and hotels form a big part of our customer base," Mr George said.

Despite that, the company has kept the connection with its customers by sending out care-packs of fresh produce to the chefs and staff of their clients.

"Whilst we've been impacted, there's been others impacted quite a bit more, so the thinking behind these fruit care packages was to help out those who are really struggling at the moment," Mr George said.

Made up of assorted fruit and vegetables, the gourmet produce found a home amongst people who normally trade in hospitality.

"We don't know where our business is going to be in a month, or three months, or six months, and our customers are in the same boat," Mr George said.

"So we've said we'll support them as long as they need our support and I'm sure we'll see them again in three to six months' time.

"We've reached out to our network of current and past customers, and our message is really just don't be shy to ask."

Topics: epidemics-and-pandemics, covid-19, federal---state-issues, health-policy, travel-health-and-safety, federal---state-issues, activism-and-lobbying, charities-and-community-organisations, community-and-society, people, human-interest, government-and-politics, diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, brisbane-4000, logan-central-4114, australia, qld

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Source: ABC News (AU)

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