Broken Hill rallies to find food for the needy after storm cuts power to Salvation Army's freezer

Two loads of food were taken to the tip after the Salvation Army’s power went out. (Supplied: Don Barron)

Salvation Army staff arrived at work this week to find their charity food supply spoiled after Broken Hill’s weekend electrical storm shorted the building’s power.

Storms ravaged Far West New South Wales on Sunday tripping the power on and off in Broken Hill.

A safety switch was triggered at the town’s Salvation Army headquarters, but with the charity’s two majors away on a well-deserved break, no-one was around to turn the electricity back on — leading to an upsetting discovery for a worker on Wednesday.

All the Salvation Army’s frozen meat and fresh food had defrosted and perished, leaving the organisation and its partner, not-for-profit Feeding Friends, without adequate supplies to provide dinners and groceries to locals in need.

Salvation Army majors Sugu and Kevin Meredith were on their first holiday in three years at the time, and when staff called to tell them what happened, they were devastated.

But Don Barron, founder of Feeding Friends, quickly turned to the Broken Hill community for help.

Astounded by people’s generosity, Mr Barron is now hopeful stocks will be replenished in time for the Merideths’ return to Broken Hill.

A heartbreaking call

The spoiled food was a soul-crushing discovery for Salvation Army team leader for homelessness Nicki Bonell, who immediately contacted Mr Barron on Wednesday.

” When I received the call from Nicki … it was heartbreaking,” Mr Barron said.

The biggest loss was meat, with two trailers of goods going directly to the tip.

“There were dozens of Christmas hams that could’ve gone to people to make sandwiches, there was chicken, there was all sorts of food like that,” Mr Barron said.

He said January was a busy time for the Salvation Army and Feeding Friends, but without food they could not function.

“People are just getting over Christmas, they rely on us for assistance, but of course, at the moment we can’t do anything,” he said.

Broken Hill locals step up

Hoping for community support, Mr Barron shared a message on social media, with photos of the goods being thrown out and plea for help, asking for unwanted food and cash donations.

The Broken Hill community did not disappoint, and that night he received the first donation.

“One woman instantly rang me … and she said she was crying, so her husband said, ‘Listen love it’s payday, clean out the freezer’,” Mr Barron said.

A local Bakery also chipped in, with owner Brent Dawson donating 20 loaves of bread and 60 bread rolls.

“[We] had to do our part, my daughter made it — it takes a couple of hours, but it’s not a big thing,” Mr Dawson said.

Outback IT owner Lyndon Pace also saw the post, and donated two data trackers to help ensure it never happened again.

“They’ll monitor the temperatures in the freezers, so if the temperature suddenly goes above a certain level they’ll all receive emails and notifications,” Mr Pace said.

Like Mr Dawson, he said it was a no-brainer that his business would help out.

More donations needed

Even with the donations they’ve received, Mr Barron said the charities still needed more donations to fully replenish the lost stock in time for the Merediths’ return.

“I appreciate the public’s assistance, they always get us behind us — and if you can please give … give generously,” he said.

Meat donations in particular were desperately needed.