Manjimup Seventh-day Adventist Church continues to help those in need through the Manji Pantry

Manjimup’s volunteer-run foodbank and op shop continues to support people doing it tough, the continued community support meaning people can get the help they need twice each month.

The fortnightly Manji Pantry foodbank and op shop, run by the Manjimup Seventh-day Adventist Church, was established in 2020 to help provide good quality and inexpensive food to those in in need during the uncertainty of the initial COVID period.

Church pastor Ross Craig said the service now has more than 450 registered volunteers from the shires of Manjimup, Bridgetown, Greenbushes, and Northcliffe who regularly help at the Manji Pantry.

“It’s a service provided by the community for the community,” Mr Craig said.

“We saw that there was a need and we did a test run and the response was quite good and from there, we used to do it once a month, but now we are able to do it twice a month now,” he said.

The prices are based on weight of the items, rather than being priced individually, and helps ease the cost-of-living pressures.

“A big box of Weetbix from Coles or Woolworths for about $5, here you’ll get it for a dollar,” Mr Craig said.

“People can actually come here, spend $20 and go home with enough groceries to last them a week.”

Mr Craig said he often received texts or emails from customers saying how much the service helped them.

“We can’t actually help them with giving them cash, but we can help them with saving money on their food bill, so they can put that money towards their gas bottle, or their firewood or their electricity,” he said.

Those wanting to shop at Manji Pantry are required to have either a concessions or healthcare card before they can get a Manji Pantry membership.

“We purchase the food from Foodbank in Bunbury and then we bring it here, set up the tables, and people are free to come through, but we do ask that the people that come here to shop have a need to come here and shop,” he said.

“Besides Foodbank, we have Coles and Woolworths also supplying us with some things, Newtons Orchards supplies us with fresh produce, a lot of the local growers will supply us from time to time as well.”

The op shop is run by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.