FOOD charity Hands and Feet are looking for local support and donations to expand their operations further into Perth’s surrounds.

Hands and Feet are an Australian charity focused on providing disability support and food for those who need it.

The community food banks are run once a week out of local churches and community centres.

Hands and Feet have 11 distribution centres across Perth, including in Bassendean and Bellevue.

These centres are open for one day a week, and some support more than 90 families on a weekly basis.

Hands and Feet WA warehouse manager Letecia Price said anyone is welcome to show up for food and support if they feel they need it.

“There are plenty of charities that provide food for those in need, but people need a concession card or proof that they are in need. We don’t require that. Our feeling is that if people are turning up for food and telling us they need it, they are doing so because they really need it,” she said.

Ms Price said the local distribution centres provided a point of community and connection for people who may be struggling.

“We want people to feel like they have a community and there are people who care about them and the problems they might be facing. We say food is like the gateway to understanding people’s needs,” she said.

“We’re trying to go beyond the physical need of food. A lot of the time when people come in for food, they’re also after someone to listen to their problems and someone to connect with. No-questions-asked support is often amazing to break down someone’s protective shell. Eventually people want to talk, we really encourage that everyone’s there to help, nobody’s there to judge.”

Ms Price said the charity fed and supported around 400 families per week in WA and went through roughly five tonnes of food, and that the major barrier to further expansion is the amount of food supplies and donations.

“We want to grow in more areas, and we need more food to do that. The distribution services and logistics are set up and ready to go, we just plain run out of food every week,” she said.

“Our big donators are Coles and Aldi, and we go to Canning Vale Markets as well. We have a warehouse in Osborne Park where we sort everything, so anything that is off or mouldy and can’t be eaten obviously doesn’t get distributed, it’s just good food that the supermarkets don’t want anymore.”

Ms Price said the charity is aiming to get to a level of operation where individuals can donate food from their own pantries.

“You do start thinking, if there’s that much waste at a supermarket level, how much is there at a household level? There’s so much of that that we could probably be using,” she said.

“We do eventually want to expand to individuals being able to donate their own food. The logistics of that are a bit more complicated. And financial assistance is just as important as food assistance. At the moment, people can donate online to help us and what we’re doing.”

Donations can be made through this website.