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The Beef Bank concept was created following a presentation in 2007 by Mr Ken McMillan from Foodbank Australia. Ken shared with Brisbane Centenary the concept and function of Foodbank. Until this time, there was very little meat available to charities like the Salvation Army, church groups and welfare organisations to assist them in providing meals for the homeless and disadvantaged.
As with all Rotary Programs a need was recognised, and club members sought to find a way to satisfy that need. The club conceived the idea of gathering support from Rotarians and interested donors who would support the concept of donating good quality meat to Foodbank, for distribution to charitable organisations that depend on Foodbank to support the homeless and disadvantaged in our state. We were so impressed with what he told us that our idea of donating meat to Foodbank to support it's services was born.
One of our club members owns a property in Warwick Queendland, so we decided to purchase five cattle, grow and improve their condition and then donate the meat to Foodbank. With the assistance of a local butcher in Warwick, over 200kg of beef from one beast was donated to Foodbank. Out of this meat, the street kitchens and vans were able to provide over 1000 meals. The satisfaction of being able to feed and help fellow Australians has been very rewarding. The concept of this project is simple. We continuously strive to provide meat each week for Foodbank for them to pass on to their many charities. As a club we purchase the meat and have it packaged and processed by a butcher, who then delivers the meat to food bank who store the product for distribution to recognized charities.
It is the goal of our club to purchase and process 50 cattle each year at a cost of $1,200 each. Any club/organisation that buys a beast will receive a laminated photograph of their namesake. The certificate will show the live weight, the dressed weight, type, sex and the approximate amount of people it feed. Please show your support in helping your fellow Australian by clicking on the Donate button. Help us keep feeding the needy community.
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