Eat Up
Providing ready-made, wholesome lunches direct to disadvantaged children at no cost.
It’s hard to believe in a privileged country like ours, there are many young Aussies who go to school each day without any lunch. And without food, concentration is compromised. This means learning is compromised, which means their future is compromised. Eat Up provides free wholesome lunches to disadvantaged primary school children in Victoria, who would otherwise go without.
2017 Pitch
Funds raised: $31,100
Eat Up pitched in at TFN Live in Melbourne on the 19 October and raised $31,100 to create a ‘start-up’ manual that will equip local country Victorians with a step-by-step guide to support hungry kids in their own hometowns. The development of this regional model will enable Eat Up to reach an additional 30 schools across five country-Victorian towns, and scale their operations with broader implications enabling national scale.
The impact…
When you think of hungry children you probably don’t think of the local primary school. Furthermore, in a country as lucky as Australia you definitely wouldn’t think it would be as many as 1 in 8 children who are going without either. Unfortunately, this is the reality and the impact hunger has on a child’s school experience is profound. Not only does it impact on their behaviour and ability to concentrate, it can also bring about social implications. The embarrassment of being the only kid in a group without lunch can harm a kids confidence and social standing.
Eat Up Australia began in 2013 by providing free lunches to two schools in the Shepparton area. It has since provided over 250,000 lunches to schools across Victoria and does so in a way that is discrete, so as not to embarrass any student who takes on. They work with the teachers who identify and provide the lunches to the students themselves. Thanks to the funding raised at TFN Live Melbourne, they have been able increase their reach to 6 new regional areas and provide work experience to high school students, unemployed people and people with disabilities who are preparing the lunches. Win, win, win. Below is a link to an article on Eat Up’s partnership with Hopeworks in Moe, VIC.
Read their Impact Report
Learn more about Eat Up.
Supporting Sustainable Development Goals:
