Pathway food relief supports families through fuel crisis
25 August 2026
Article originally published on Coles’ food recover partner, SecondBite’s website:
Pathway food relief supports families through fuel crisis - SecondBiteOpens in new window
A client shared that she has been going without food because she had to put petrol in the car…as she needs to drive for work.
We are hearing these stories regularly and it’s having such a measurable impact on vulnerable clients in our community. It’s heartbreaking.
Pathway Community Centre Director, Noelle Wallis
The food relief program at Pathway Community Centre is making a big difference to people who are doing it tough due to the fuel crisis and high cost of living pressures.
The Adelaide based food program supports around 2000 households a fortnight with the help of SecondBite rescued food, and they have seen a sharp increase in demand since fuel prices started to rise.
Pathway Director Noelle Wallis said they ran their food program six days a week and were supporting around 150 households a day with food hampers. But since fuel prices increased that number has jumped up to 175 households a day seeking food.
“It is a significant increase in demand for food relief. In the three and a half years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen such a measurable increase in such a short space of time.“
“We couldn’t provide food to all these households without the support of SecondBite.”
Making the tough choice between food and fuel
Noelle said people in their community were making the tough choice between paying for petrol or paying for food.
“People who did not think they’d need a service like ours that are now seeking help with food as a lot of people have to drive for their job. And so it just puts them between a rock and a hard place because they can’t save on petrol.“
Noelle said many of Pathway’s food relief clients were already going day-to-day and struggling to meet the high costs of living and now they were also battling high petrol prices.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in food relief clients who have a job, or even double income families where the rent or mortgage has increased so much that they can no longer make ends meet.“
“We’ve also seen a large increase in clients experiencing homelessness and many are now living in their cars.“
Food supplies struggling to meet demand
The increased number of people seeking food relief is putting extra pressure on Pathway’s food relief program supplies.
Noelle said extra deliveries of rescued food from SecondBite had been a great help to their program, but they still didn’t have enough food to meet the demand.
The SecondBite truck delivers food to Pathway Community Centre five days a week – including fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy items, as well as ready-to-eat meals made in the FareShare kitchens.
Pathway also collect food six days a week with their own vehicles – including picking up surplus food from five Coles supermarkets.
Noelle said the increased cost of diesel to fuel their own vehicles was having a big effect on them.
“We run a small truck and a refrigerated van and there’s been a massive increase to our fuel costs. This is going to hit us hard.“
Pathway clients share how SecondBite helps
Anna, a single mother of 6 and grandmother of 16, has been accessing SecondBite food hampers through Pathway for several years and also volunteers in the food relief program.
She said she was very grateful for the hampers as she lived on a limited income and struggled to afford the cost of food.
I get SecondBite food regularly…I don’t think I would survive without it.
Anna, Pathway food client & volunteer
Jo is raising four children as a single mother and receives regular food hampers from Pathway as well as giving her time each week as a volunteer.
I’ve always appreciated these services and what they did, but volunteering really puts it in perspective when you see exactly how many people need help with food.
It’s actually really scary to see what’s happening economically for so many people at the moment and what would happen if they couldn’t get this help.
Jo, Pathway food client & volunteer
Jo said the hampers of SecondBite food from Pathway were such a big help both to her own family and to those she supported through her volunteering.
“It’s a huge box of food and it makes a massive difference, and it’s beautiful fruit and veg.”
Every day, our team members set aside unsold, edible food for SecondBite so it can reach local charities and communities where it is needed most. In FY26, Coles provided the equivalent of 40.1 million meals to SecondBite (336 million meals since 2011).
