Crisis recovery efforts across Australia given a $100,000 boost with Syngenta’s donation to Foodbank Australia

The crisis recovery effort has been given a financial boost with Syngenta’s donation of $100,000 to Foodbank Australia.

Australian communities have been suffering through a severe drought and devastating bushfires and the recovery will take many years. And now the social and economic impact of COVID-19 puts further pressure on people who need aid the most. The donation to Foodbank will go some way to ensuring people directly affected will have what is needed, when and where it’s needed.

The Managing Director for Syngenta in Australia and New Zealand, Paul Luxton, said communities have been doing it tough for some time and it was particularly difficult to hear from Foodbank that 23% more people required food assistance in 2019 compared to the previous year.

“Communities, colleagues and customers have experienced unprecedented hardship over many years and we have seen firsthand the impact bushfires have had on farms and farming communities. With the latest crisis, I can only imagine the number of people needing support is on the rise. We wanted to provide support in some way and Foodbank is a great partner to do that, with their focus on providing food relief and commitment to long-term assistance.”

“Foodbank’s regional food sourcing program also helps to support local communities in crisis by partnering with food manufacturers based in rural and regional Australia. Through Foodbank’s partnerships, communities that rely on their local food and grocery manufacturers for employment are protected and local economies are stimulated,” said Paul.

The CEO of Foodbank Australia, Brianna Casey, said to meet the increased demand for food nationally, Foodbank is scaling to purchase or manufacture larger volumes of food and groceries than they have at any time in their history.

“As we find ourselves in unprecedented times as a result of coronavirus, more Australians than ever are facing a struggle to make day-to-day ends meet. Syngenta’s donation will go a long way to ensuring key pantry staple food supplies, such as pasta sauce and cereal, from regionally-based manufacturers are maintained over the long-term,” said Brianna.

Paul Luxton said “This is the start of an ongoing partnership with Foodbank Australia and we look forward to continuing to support their extraordinary efforts in providing food security and helping the tremendous recovery effort needed for communities across Australia.”