A NEW dedicated van will help the Mornington Community Support Centre rescue food for locals in need, thanks to Mornington Toyota and the Rotary Club of Mornington. The new van will allow the centre to significantly expand its food rescue operations, collecting extra food from supermarkets, bakeries, and producers. Until now, staff and volunteers have been using their own cars to support the program’s logistics – a generous but unsustainable effort as demand increases amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Currently, the centre distributes donated food to more than 100 families each week, as well as preparing about 800 meals for the centre’s meeting room café from Monday to Thursday. Recognising the importance of this initiative and the pressing need for a dedicated transport vehicle, the Mornington Rotary made it their commitment to fund a dedicated van. “This is such an essential program for our community, and the club was proud to support it,” Mornington Rotary president Pam Hall said.
Following conversations with Gary Sanford from Community Bank Mount Martha, a joint funding arrangement was then established. “This is exactly the type of community initiative our bank is proud to support, made possible by the continued growth of our customer base,” Sanford said.
Mornington Toyota threw their support behind the initiative by supplying a Toyota HiAce to meet the centre’s needs, and generously providing ongoing service and maintenance of the vehicle.
In late June, Mornington Toyota’s general manager Michael McInerney officially handed over the keys to Shelley Dewerson-Bogue, coordinator of the centre’s fresh food program. “This van is a tremendous asset to our fresh food program and the dedicated volunteers who run it,” Dewerson-Bogue said. “We are truly grateful to Mornington Rotary, c, and Mornington Toyota for their support in helping us meet the growing needs of our community.” The centre also extended heartfelt thanks to Progress Signs for providing custom signwriting for the van.
First published in the Mornington News – 8 July 2025
