FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1 June, Springfield – Ipswich Assist, a prominent charitable organization providing essential food and assistance to Ipswich residents in need is dealing with a substantial increase in demand with the cost- of- living crisis.
Ipswich Assist Manager, Jason Budden, said: “We estimate that this year, Ipswich Assist will provide food, clothing, support and care to over 38,000 people.”
“We are bracing ourselves”, explained Jason in relation to the increase in demand. “It is not coming just from people who usually call upon us for help, but also from middle-class, working families, mums and dads struggling with cost of living and power bills.
“We are seeing around 170 families just on a Thursday, a total of 600 people between 9am and 2pm, and with lunches and other services, we serve around 1,000 people weekly.”
Locally based Senator Paul Scarr said: “The surge for demand is the result of cost- of- living pressure with rents, interest rates and electricity prices all going up. We are so lucky that we have Ipswich Assist and their wonderful group of volunteers helping our community. Ipswich is a very generous community and now is the time for all of us to reach out and give Ipswich Assist a hand.”
Ipswich Assist recently contacted Senator Paul Scarr to assist with the breakdown of one of their freezers, which created an additional challenge for the organization.
Jason Budden said: “We had our own crisis a few weeks ago when one of our freezers broke down. Our freezers are crucial as they assist us to store the weekly meat donation, we receive from JBS Foods Australia. With the assistance of Senator Scarr and our broader community we managed to acquire two brand new freezers.”
Jason Budden said: “The demand for our services continues to rise, and we need additional support to fulfill the basic needs of our clients, including essential toiletries,” added Jason Budden.
