The Big Umbrella Foundation

Food rescue, Feeding people, Forming communities

Since 2010, The Big Umbrella Foundation (TBU) has been creating and serving restaurant quality meals to people experiencing food insecurity and homelessness using rescued food and produce served by our team of dedicated volunteers. TBU operates as a safe and inclusive space forging a sense of belonging and creating community. The devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal initiated TBU’s first emergency response and inspired TBU to expand its reach into delivering disaster relief services on an ongoing basis. Since 2019 TBU has formally become a nationally recognised emergency food relief organisation supporting communities affected by wildfires, floods, earthquakes, storms and pandemics.

Volunteers

Meals Served

TONNES OF FOOD RESCUED

Our Work

ARM Team Building

Corporate groups are invited to prepare ‘A Real Meal’ (ARM) using rescued food and fresh produce from TBU’s Urban Farm in MG’s commercial kitchen. Led by our chef and volunteers, teams will enjoy creating restaurant quality meals while learning about composting and zero-waste cooking techniques. These meals will then be served at Federation Square Melbourne to our friends on the street. This socially conscious team building activity opens eyes, warms hearts and changes lives.

A Real Meal

Started in 2010, A Real Meal (ARM) is a freely offered nutritious meal for people experiencing food insecurity. Dietary and culturally sensitive dishes are created in our commercial kitchen Brunswick using rescued food and then served in the heart of Melbourne at Federation Square by our family of volunteers and corporate guests. ARM brings people together in a safe and inclusive space to enjoy a sit down shared meal and a friendly chat.

Emergency Food Relief (EFR)

In response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, TBU initiated its first emergency response which inspired TBU to expand its reach into delivering emergency relief services on an ongoing basis. In 2019, after the devastating wildfires in Victoria and New South Wales, TBU Disaster Food Relief Team (DRT) was formally established. Our food truck was mobilised within days and was stationed for weeks providing thousands of hot meals for people living in evacuation centres and first responders. Since then, TBU DTR has provided crisis accommodation meals during the 111 straight days of pandemic lockdown, the 2021 Dandenong storms and the devastating 2022 Lismore and Shepparton floods.

Urban Farm

The pandemic taught us a lot about food shortages and not to take our food supply for granted. 900sqm of disused land has been transformed into a high production Urban Farm. It is a sustainably built closed loop food system where food scraps are composted to fill wicker beds irrigated by water captured from the factory roof to grow a variety of vegetables and herbs. Combined with the rescued food we receive, this fresh produce enables our kitchen team to make our delicious restaurant quality meals. A mushroom lab, orchard, bee hives and egg laying chickens will complete the picture.

Get Involved

Individual Volunteers

Share your time, expertise and kindness to care for people in need. Meet other warm hearted people who generously donate their time in our kitchen, meal service, urban farm and warehouse.

Team Building Volunteering

Sign up for a one of a kind teambuilding experience in Melbourne! Click the link below to receive an information pack for your company to volunteer with us.

Donate

Run by volunteers means 100% of your donation will go directly towards running our programs. To donate please click the donate button below.

Media

THE BIG UMBRELLA FILMS

CH 10 - The Project -10 years of The Big Umbrella Foundation

The Big Umbrella Ch7 Sunrise Live Cross with Matt Preston @ MG's Kitchen

2020 Charity Team Building Programs - A Real Meal & Urban Seed Kitchens

A real meal thursdays 360

The heart of TBU

A ReaL MeaL- A Corporate Team building program feeding the homeless

What are people saying?

Just a quick note to say thank you for inviting me to come along to last nights’ employee volunteer program with Big Umbrella. I had no expectations nor preconceived ideas about the evening. I was absolutely overwhelmed and felt very humble, the people I met and had the chance to talk with were just amazing. Their gratitude and appreciation was something that will last with me for ever.

Working with The Big Umbrella has been great. Being able to contribute and give back to the community with a great bunch of enthusiastic volunteers really added to the night. One of the reasons I enjoyed participating in the “A Real Meal” project, was the interactions with people on the street. We not only provide delicious food, but we are able to share our lives and communicate with them. I am definitely looking forward to volunteering again and getting on board with this charity in different ways!

Volunteering with the Big Umbrella with some of my colleagues for the past 2 years has been an invaluable experience for me. The evenings are very well organized and run by the Big Umbrella volunteers, and we always feel like we fit right in. The customers we serve are friendly, thankful and make some interesting conversation. I would recommend this program to any company looking to organize a volunteering event that doubles as a team building exercise. There is nothing that brings a team together quite like being able to put a smile on someone’s face while cooking pancakes at Flinders Street Station!

As a Melbourne family business, The Pancake Parlour loves to see the people of this city work together to tackle the issues we face as a community. Over the past two years, we’ve teamed up with The Big Umbrella to provide meals to our friends on the street at the Flinders Street Station Soup Kitchen, and raised $25,000 through initiatives for International Pancake Day. Teaming up with a wonderful organisation such as The Big Umbrella has enabled us to celebrate the spirit of family and friendship, and combine our unique values to work towards a common goal, and that’s to provide ‘A Real Meal’ to the marginalised community of Melbourne.