The Little Pantry gets a Big Boost

How you helped us to raise nearly $25,000 for our Emergency Food Relief Pantry

Over two days in April, thousands of dollars poured in from across Canberra, from neighbours, local businesses, and people who’d never met the families they were helping. By the time the campaign closed, our Little Pantry Double Donation Days had raised $24,956.60 for emergency food relief.

We are genuinely blown away, and we want to say thank you.

The Little Pantry is an entirely philanthropic emergency food relief fund based at our Woden Community

Hub. It’s funded on the generosity of people in our community who believe that nobody in Canberra should go without food. Every year, we support thousands of families across our city through the Pantry: people facing unexpected hardship, financial crisis, or simply a week where the bills won’t stretch far enough. That need is real, and it is growing.

The Double Donation Days campaign, which we ran in partnership with Beyond Bank on 21 and 22 April, gave our community the chance to make their giving go further.

What the money means

The funds raised through Double Donation Days are already at work. Our monthly community dinners with Helping ACT have been a wonderful success, bringing people together over a shared meal, reducing isolation, and reminding us all that connection is just as nourishing as food.

The money raised is also helping us explore fresh food options and community fridges to sit alongside our existing pantry stocks. Dry goods and canned food are the backbone of what we provide, but access to fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy can make an enormous difference to a family’s week. Watch this space.

What Goes into a Little Pantry Bag?

A typical Little Pantry bag includes a mix of pantry staples like pasta, rice, tinned vegetables, tinned protein, sauces and soups. We include breakfast items where we can, cereal, oats, spreads. Tea and coffee, because sometimes a warm drink is everything. Where stock allows, we add treats: biscuits, snacks, or something sweet, because dignity matters and people deserve more than the bare minimum.

Every bag is put together by our incredible volunteers. No two bags are identical, because no two families are in exactly the same situation. We’re incredibly grateful to our partnership with Helping ACT who help us to include some cultural specific extras that can’t always be bought from the supermarket or doesn’t always get donated.

As we expand into fresh food options and explore community fridges, the bags will grow and evolve too.

Can you help keep the Pantry stocked?

The Little Pantry runs entirely on the kindness of people like you.

A donation to the Little Pantry goes straight into food for people who need it. Five dollars. Twenty dollars. Whatever you can spare.

You can donate online, drop off non-perishable food items at our Woden Community Hub, or simply spread the word to someone who might want to give. If you’re a local business or organisation and you’d like to get involved, whether through a donation drive, a fundraiser, or a partnership, we’d love to hear from you!

To donate or find out more, visit us at the Woden Community Hub or reach out to our team. Or visit the website here.