Morningside-based Foodbank Queensland has taken out one of the state’s most prestigious volunteering honours, named as the recipient of the Queensland Volunteering Impact Award at the 2026 Queensland Volunteering Awards.
Read: Fighting Hunger Gets Bigger in QLD With FoodBank Morningside and FareShare Partnership
The award recognises Foodbank Queensland’s Food Distribution and Community Food Relief Program, a sprawling operation that each week supports 135,000 Queenslanders in crisis and delivers breakfast to 52,000 children every school day.
Selected from 60 nominated organisations in its category, Foodbank Queensland said the recognition belongs to every person across the organisation who helps ensure volunteers feel valued and supported.
“This recognition belongs to every single person across our organisation who helps ensure our volunteers feel valued, supported and truly part of our workforce. Because at Foodbank, they’re not just volunteers — they’re at the heart of everything we do.”
Volunteers at the Heart of Food Relief
At the coalface of that work are the organisation’s volunteer shop assistants, who support Foodbank Queensland’s community partners as they select and pack essential food items. Beyond the practicalities, volunteers help keep the Food Distribution Centre safe, organised and welcoming, turning care, dignity and teamwork into real community impact.
Foodbank Queensland is a not-for-profit, non-denominational organisation operating as part of the federated Foodbank Australia network, active in every state and territory. From its Morningside base, the Queensland arm operates on the belief that access to healthy food is a basic human right.
Alongside direct food relief, the organisation rescues surplus food that would otherwise go to waste, reducing landfill and protecting the environment. It works in collaboration with 350 community partners and 430 schools across the state, building what it describes as fairer, more resilient local food systems for the long term.
Foodbank Queensland won the community category of the Impact Award ahead of finalists The Older Men’s Network (TOMNET) and Palliative Care Queensland’s Ambulance Wish program.
Queensland’s Volunteers Take Centre Stage
The award was presented at the 2026 Queensland Volunteering Awards ceremony on 15 May, which this year honoured 49,722 volunteers across 275 nominations. Eight recipients and 21 finalists were celebrated across six award categories.
Volunteering Queensland CEO Jane Hedger noted that 2026 carries particular significance, being the United Nations International Year of Volunteers.
“The Queensland Volunteering Awards offer a special moment to honour and value every person who is contributing through volunteering to growing a thriving Queensland,” Ms Hedger said. “At a time when cost of living pressures and increasing demand for support are placing strain on Queenslanders, volunteers continue to step up and be the steady hands helping to hold our communities together.”
Read: Morningside Businesses Team Up To Feed Hungry Families
The awards, which have run since 2016, exist to shine a light on the people and organisations whose contributions so often go unnoticed. For Foodbank Queensland and its volunteers, the ceremony was an opportunity to celebrate work that continues to make a real difference to Queensland’s most vulnerable communities.
Published 21-May-2026
