Central Victorian foodbanks are preparing for a second wave of demand as government support dries up and more people struggle to put food on the table.
Organisations including Bendigo Foodshare, Kyneton Caring Community and the Mount Alexander Community Pantry were placed under immense pressure in March as the pandemic unfolded, people lost their jobs and the supermarkets were stripped bare in a shopping frenzy.
Kyneton Caring Community operations manager Kerryn Wildenburg said demand had dropped off in recent weeks, but she expected an influx towards the end of the year as more people found themselves unemployed.
"We were prepared for an influx and then have seen a decrease, we were quite shocked," she said.
"But we also thought that it's the calm before the storm and people were still living off their savings account and loaning money from friends."
Kyneton Community Caring has seen an increase of about three new clients every day amid the coronavirus pandemic and had to place bans on staples like pasta.
The organisation helps 280 families in the Macedon Ranges each month and is now preparing for the extra demand.
"The extra payments from the government will dry up pretty quickly, so I think the full impact of coronavirus is really just beginning now and we're preparing ourselves to be hit harder at the end of the year," Ms Wildenburg said.
With unemployment levels continuing to rise and JobKeeper payments ending in September, Bendigo Foodshare said it was "conservatively estimating" an extra 10,000 people across Central Victoria would need food relief.
Before the pandemic, Bendigo Foodshare supported more than 12,800 Central Victorians every week, through 89 agencies.
Since then, those agencies have reported an average increase in demand of 30 per cent.
"Of course, we have some agencies that would report a much higher level and have increased their services to cope with increasing requests," Bendigo Foodshare manager Bridget Bentley said.
A survey of 25,000 Central Victorians this month found few were meeting the daily requirement for fruit and vegetables, although in Bendigo women were twice as likely to meet the target than men.
