Skip to main content

Essential goods delivered to most vulnerable in Arnhem Land

15 May 2020

2500 basics boxes containing essential household and food items have been kindly donated to the elderly in Arnhem Land communities including Minjilang, Warruwi and Gunbalanya, and Far North Queensland by supermarket chain Woolworths.
The donation has been welcomed by the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA) who has freighted and distributed the hundreds of packs to communities.
West Arnhem Regional Council staff, including Community Care, have also been working very hard to make sure the packs, which include essential items such as flour, toilet paper, soap, juice, long-life milk and rice, arrive safely to recipients.
ALPA CEO Alastair King said the elderly are some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and are not often able to get to the store as often as they need to, so this is a welcome boost for them and their families.
ALPA paid for the freight of the boxes and are responsible for distribution to the Arnhem Land communities.
“Our community services teams are coordinating with health and aged care facilities to make sure they get to our elderly.”
Woolworths General Manager Chris Crammond said, “We are pleased to be able to work with ALPA to find an interim solution which will see these boxes distributed to these communities immediately.”
ALPA CEO Alastair Kind said food security remains a top priority for our remote communities and we are in communication with suppliers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders.
“We appreciate that the biggest supermarket chain in the country is understanding how smaller retailers are doing it tough in this current health emergency.”
“Our communities are often invisible to the rest of Australia, so we really appreciate Woolworths reaching out and offering help.”
Mr Crammond added, “We will continue to work with Government and important stakeholders such as ALPA to underpin food security for these remote communities.”
This was a great collaboration between East Arnhem Regional Council, West Arnhem Regional Council and ALPA which supported getting these boxes out to those that need it most.