Robyn White, a volunteer at Addi Road Food Pantry, told the meeting demand had increased dramatically over the past 12 months, with 20 or 30 people waiting outside an hour before the facility opens.

Stay-at-home mother Glenda Pontes has been visiting the Addi Road food pantry in Sydney's inner-west for years to purchase snacks at a low price. Now she has to rely on the charity to put all food on the table.

Addison Road Community Organisation, known to locals as Addi Road, is a community centre based in Sydney’s Inner West that is a regular recipient of food from SecondBite, as well as a Coles Nurture Fund grant.

Today Show visiting our Hampers of Hope for a chat to Bryan Brown and Kylie Kwong.

Johanna Griggs from Better Homes and Gardens visited the volunteers at Addi Road, and spoke to Rosanna Barbero and Craig foster about Hampers of Hope.

Studio 10 spoke to Addi Road about their Christmas Tree fundraiser, the proceeds of which go towards Addi Road's food justice program.

ABC visited Addi Road to hear from CEO Rosanna Barbero and to see Addi Road experiencing a 160% increase in demand for its food relief services.

Minister for Lands and Water, Kevin Anderson, visited Addi Road in this news feature from Channel 9

The Sydney Swans threw their support behind Addi Rd's #RacismNotWelcome campaign by wearing special t-shirts in their Round 11 pre-game warm-up.

The Sydney Swans and Addi Road are coming together to collect ‘Cans for a Cause’ to help communities affected by the recent floods across NSW.

South Eveleigh's local eateries are delivering "a big thank you" to the nurses and doctors in their local area by doing what they do best.

Can a street sign end racism? Not likely, but it can start a hard conversation.

“It’s to say, we acknowledge what you’ve been through and what you’re going through now, and we really want to spoil you.”

“Food IS love”: Kylie Kwong on feeding healthcare workers.

In December 2021, Sunrise visited Addi Road to report on Hampers of Hope and put the spotlight on the tireless army of volunteers and supporters that made it happen.

The pandemic has led to a surge in people needing help putting food on the table.

"We need to be alarmed, not celebrate that we’re providing food to people.”

Addison Road Community Organisation is a charity working to provide many forms of assistance at the one location, in Marrickville, Sydney.

Addison Road Food Pantry is providing food boxes to newly arrived Afghan refugees as well as helping with logistics and administration for families in Afghanistan trying to get out.

It’s the perennial question: what's for dinner tonight? But for a rising number of Australians experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic, the question has taken on new meaning. As NSW emerges from lockdown, Earshot shares a portrait of the community group, Addi Road and discovers what we can learn from their hyperlocal response to the crisis.

Kylie Kwong celebrates the individuals helping to grow a stronger community. This month, we meet Rosanna Barbero, chief executive of Sydney’s Addison Road Community Organisation.

"Many Australians see overreach all around them. There is little scientific evidence to support curfews, and Australia’s lockdowns have exacted a heavy and unequal toll. Rosanna Barbero, who runs a community organization in Western Sydney, cited the long-term costs: families with many children and only one computer for remote schooling; small-business owners drowning in debt. “It’s so much easier to follow the lockdown rules if you’re in a position of privilege and comfort,” Ms. Barbero said. “There’s a gender element, a race element, and there’s a class element.” But even she said that while more help was needed, the lockdowns were worth enduring."

"At the Addi Road Community Organisation in Sydney’s Marrickville, the demand for food relief has also spiked since June. With the LGAs of concern in south-west and western Sydney locked down longer and harder than the rest of the city, food insecurity has only worsened as the weeks have dragged on. Each week, around 300 volunteers can be found packing groceries, pantry items and personal care supplies into hampers inside a community hall, ready to be distributed all over Sydney, but particularly to the south-west and western LGAs. Pallets heaped high line the carpark, bound for various communities: Fijian, Aboriginal, Sudanese. Addi Road’s food pantry opens every day at midday, allowing around 2,000 people per week to choose their food. “The pantry is the height of dignity,” says the chief executive, Rosanna Barbero. “You get to choose what you want, you’re not made to feel like you’re a beggar or a problem. You can even get treats for your kids like ice-cream. Everyone’s kids deserve treats.” "

“Brown!” says ex-Socceroo Craig Foster, who also volunteers at Addison Road, in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Marrickville. “I’m sorry I introduced him! I thought he was this half-unemployed, laid-back Aussie bloke; it turns out he’s the uber volunteer. I thought I was quite accomplished and he’s just blown me out of the water. He’s got grocery assembly lines, he’s got packing routines: he’s so good they’ve made him a sticker: ‘Bryan Brown Neat Packing Approved’. They love him! I’m never taking him anywhere ever again.”

Rosanna Barbero, who runs a not-for-profit, narrates the plight of residents in some restricted LGAs of Sydney experiencing extreme food insecurity.

Every day, Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Bilal El-Hayek gets in the car with Amer Yassine, a volunteer with Lighthouse Community Support, and drives around south-west Sydney delivering hampers of food and hygiene products to households. Some families might be isolating, some have COVID-19, and others are struggling financially.

Feeding the family has become harder than ever as COVID-19 continues to hit household budgets. The Australian Army is now lending a hand to charities and community organisations, as they join efforts to ensure that no-one goes hungry.

In a community centre in Marrickville, in Sydney’s inner west, thousands of food hampers are being packed for people impoverished by the Covid-19 lockdown. Each day come more calls for help, and the response grows more elaborate.

"The City of Sydney has teamed up with Coles and food rescue group SecondBite to ensure pantry staples make it to our most vulnerable residents. The hampers will be distributed by grassroots organisations, including Addi Road in Marrickville, which is already giving out 2000 hampers a week, with demand climbing due to Covid."

Last week, Addi Road Community Organisation packed and delivered 1200 food hampers across NSW and expect that number to double in the next 10 days.