'Heartbreaking': Food relief charity scrambles for a new home after vacancy notice

Sunday, 27 April 2025 12:14

Charity chairman labels situation as internal "circular argument"

A major food relief organisation is urgently searching for another warehouse after being told to leave a "significant" operational location by November.

One Meal's three-year rent-free agreement on Sydney's Northern Beaches will end after St Vincent de Paul Society NSW confirmed the sale of the facility.

Although extremely thankful for the partnership, One Meal chairman Robert McLachlan said it was an internal "circular argument" with "cost-of-living challenges" to resolve.

What happened?

St Vincent de Paul entered a short-term agreement in 2021 and offered One Meal occupancy at an idle youth centre in the Northern Beaches.

"I think the access to that real estate has been a significant factor from us growing from doing meals of less than 200,000 to up to over a million," McLachlan said.

"The Brookvale operation was just a fundamental game-changer because it allowed us to scale up."

In a joint statement with St Vincent de Paul, One Meal said it had received verbal and written notice of the vacancy request and extended the deadline to November.

Despite the uncertainty moving forward, both charities "understood the agreement was temporary" and both commended their "mutually beneficial partnership".

McLachlan estimates One Meal has provided St Vincent de Paul with up to $350,000 a year of food and services, free of charge.

As an alternative, One Meal has been offered a location in Hornsby.

'For the community, by the community'

One Meal was founded in December 2014 when a group of friends organised a one-time street service in Sydney to provide Christmas meals to people in need of a meal.

The charity has rapidly expanded since, now providing up to "19,000 meal equivalents every week" across five LGAs in Greater Sydney.

The services are provided by 1200 volunteers who cook, pick up, donate and deliver meals to communities and people in need.

Volunteers also run community meals and outreach services - stacking shelves, cleaning, and running administrative roles.

The charity collaborates with corporate groups, school groups and young people with disabilities to help support their services.

One Meal is also partnered with popular online cook Nagi Maehashi and her RecipeTin Eats project to distribute meals across Sydney.

Rising challenges

The most immediate challenge for One Meal is the uncertainty of its future location, which has been a source of "major concern" for local volunteers.

One Meal also faces a substantial financial hurdle in securing a new location, with a funding shortfall to secure necessary real estate.

"This means we will face some difficult decisions that's going to impact the scope and scale of our activities," McLachlan said.

The real hurdle, McLachlan said, is not being able to meet demand.

"We've reached capacity, and it's really heartbreaking for us to not be able to continue to grow to meet the demands," he said.

"Where would these people go if we can't support them in these difficult economic times?"

What now?

Despite the challenges, One Meal remains hopeful it will find a new location and is proud of its commitment to the community.

"This is a humanitarian way of connecting with people who are really in need," McLachlan said.

"And we're appreciative of Vinnie's partnership, which has been reciprocated - we just hope we can find a solution going forward."

For more information on how to help, volunteer or access these services, visit the One Meal website.

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