Vulnerable Isaac families facing cost-of-living pressures will receive food relief through a $158,000 Community Pantry partnership.

Anglo American has partnered with Emergency and Long-term Accommodation Moranbah (ELAM) to help provide emergency relief to families and individuals in crisis across the Isaac region.

The two-year Community Pantry and Emergency Relief partnership delivers food relief measures under five initiatives.

• $26,000 in funding to stock and maintain ELAM’s Community Pantry with non-perishable groceries
• $52,000 in funding for click and collect orders of fresh produce, dairy products, meat, personal hygiene and baby formula
• $80,000 in funding for ELAM’s Food for Thought Program, which includes 65 breakfasts and lunches delivered daily to school students in Moranbah and
• Weekly provision of 25 frozen meals from Grosvenor Village
• Staff donations of non-perishable goods

ELAM manager Tracy Chapman said the increasing cost of living was adding further pressure to families and individuals who were already struggling to make ends meet.

“ELAM has experienced a significant demand for emergency relief over the past 12 months, and the cost of living is putting families under increasing financial stress,” she said.

“Most of our clients are living from pay to pay after using their savings.

“Christmas added an extra strain on an already stretched budgets and, in some cases, people may have skipped gifts all together.”

Anglo American Australia CEO Dan van der Westhuizen said Anglo American was pleased to partner with a like-minded organisation that shared the company’s Purpose.

“ELAM’s mission to empower Moranbah’s most vulnerable residents to achieve independence through the provision of social support directly aligns with our objective to improve liveability in the areas where we operate,” he said.

“We’ve seen the benefits of ELAM’s support services in the community, which includes the provision of crisis accommodation, emergency relief support and youth services, and are delighted to partner with ELAM to build a more sustainable future for all Moranbah residents.”

Under ELAM’s Community Pantry initiative, community members experiencing food insecurity can visit Moranbah Youth and Community Centre to collect pantry goods free-of-charge.

This service is supplemented by a click-and-collect order for fresh produce, dairy products, meat, personal hygiene items and baby goods.

Donation bins have been installed at Anglo American’s Moranbah North and Grosvenor mines to collect staff donations of non-perishable pantry goods, which help in keeping the pantry fully stocked.

“ELAM’s vision is to combat hunger, achieve food security, and improve nutrition in our community,” Tracy said.

“Not only has Anglo American provided the necessary funding to make this vision come to fruition, but Anglo American employees are also banding together on an ongoing basis to collect non-perishable items at both Moranbah North and Grosvenor mine sites to donate to our Community Pantry.”

Through ELAM’s Food for Thought Program, school students have been receiving 65 breakfasts and lunches which are delivered daily to Moranbah State School, Moranbah East State School, Moranbah High School and Coppabella State School.

Moranbah State School principal Anthony Edwards said Anglo American’s sponsorship of the Food for Thought Program in 2023 and 2024 provided security and peace of mind no child would go hungry at school.

“People may not realise Moranbah has a large population of families doing it really tough. Whether that be working families or non-working families, there are a lot of students whose families don’t have the resources to get food on the table every single day,” he said.

“If a child arrives at school and they haven’t eaten, they can grab something to eat (through the Food for Thought Program) and be in class on time like their peers, so they can have the same experience throughout the day – eating alongside everybody else, playing alongside everybody else and learning alongside everybody else.

“There are a lot of families who, through shame or embarrassment, may not want to send their kids to school, but because this program is accessible to anybody – there are some students who may access it just because they forgot their lunch that day – there’s no stigma attached to it.”

The partnership brings Anglo American’s total investment in Moranbah’s social services sector to $621,000 over two years and complements its existing $463,000 mental health partnership with Moranbah and District Support Services.