Communicare

‘Helping ordinary people with the cost of living’

As agencies, servants to the public and professionals that come into contact with people everyday, we can see that the constant hand out of food, monies and other needs does not teach people how to manage their lives effectively. Communicare, a non-profit organization, came up with a concept that takes people from total welfare dependence to being more independent financially. We realize that we will always have those in urgent need and those people are still helped by us providing they have a referral from Centrelink etc. The new concept works for people who are stable on their income (no present urgent need), and who wish to save money and get out of debt. There is NO means test attached to this program making it more accessible for the wider community.

How do people become involved?

1. We have people register for the food program. Initially there is a cost of $25 registration for 12 months and this is non refundable.
   
2. We ask people to nominate whether they want their food parcels weekly or fortnightly.
   
3. The people pay a set-handling fee of $30 each time they pick up a parcel.

Download the Food Parcel Registration Form (WORD DOC)

What is the parcel?

1. A box of fresh fruit and vegetables straight from the Markets at Rocklea. Depending on the season, things like potatoes, pumpkin, onions, carrots, cabbage, prepacked salads, watermelon, apples, oranges, bananas, garlic, sweet potato, corn, cucumber, tomatoes, cauliflower, zucchini etc. It is a BIG box. It will last a small family a whole week.
   
   
2. DRY PACK: which varies from week to week...
   eg: (please note not all items below are always available)
   - cereal
   - biscuits
   - crackers
   - chips
   - Drinks
   - cake mixes
   - rice
   - noodles
   
   
3. EXTRAS: which varies from week to week...
   - Free Range Eggs
   - milk
   - cream
   - cheese
   - Pre packed stir fry veggies
   - Mrs Crockets Salads eg:coleslaw, pasta salad, potato salad
   
   note all extras are sublects to availability

PLEASE NOTE: A food parcel from us consists of a variety of the above. The fruit and vegetable parcel will always be plentiful as we buy the fruit and veggies in bulk from the markets and farms. The other products are dependent on availability. The bulk of the parcels is paid for by us. We do receive some donated product and this is shared amongst the parcels.    We are always looking for farms to donate produce.

TAX DEDUCTIBILITY – We are a Public Benevolent Institution (PBI). Every donation over $2.00 is tax deductible when a receipt for the donation is requested. Also product donated from companies can be valued by the Australian Taxation Office and a tax-deductible receipt issued.

A solution for your clients

Since the programs inception in June 2003, we have had over 1500 families register for this program. Testimony after testimony shows us that this program is successful. People ARE saving money. With this program, we also have a debt Counseling and Mediation Centre who work alongside clients to have debts removed, reduced or just managed in a better way.

As a non-profit organization we still rely on generosity of the Gambling Community Benefit Fund and Jupiters Casino for our major asset purchases e.g. cold rooms, freezers, refrigeration trucks etc.