
The Big Umbrella
100% volunteer run. 100% run on love.
For 12 years The Big Umbrella Foundation has been creating and serving restaurant quality meals to people experiencing food insecurity using rescued food served with big love by our team of dedicated volunteers. TBU operates as a safe and inclusive space forging a sense of belonging and creating community. Since 2019 TBU has become a nationally recognised emergency food relief organisation supporting communities affected by wildfires, floods, earthquakes, storms and pandemics.



Our Work

ARM Team Building
Corporate groups are invited to prepare ‘A Real Meal’ (ARM) in MG’s commercial kitchen and serve it at Federation Square Melbourne to our friends on the street. This socially concious team building activity opens eyes, warms hearts and changes lives.

A Real Meal
A Real Meal (ARM) is a freely offered nutritious delicious meal for people experiencing food insecurity. Dietary and culturally sensitive dishes are created in MG’S kitchen Brunswick using rescued food and then served in the heart of Melbourne at Federation Square by our family of volunteers and corporate guests.

Emergency Food Relief (EFR)
In response to the 2019 devastating wildfires TBU Emergency Food Relief (EFR) was born when our food truck mobilised within days and was stationed for weeks providing hundred of hot meals for volunteers, emergency service workers and people who had lost everything. Since then TBU EFR provided crisis accommodation meals during 111 straight days of pandemic lockdown, 2021 Dandenong storms and the devastating 2022 Lismore and Shepparton floods.

Urban Farm
The pandemic taught us a lot about food shortages, to not take our food supply for granted. 900sqm of disused land has been transformed into a high production urban farm.It is an aesthetically designed closed loop food system where food scraps are composted to fill wicker beds irrigated by water captured from the factory roof water to grow variety of vegetables and herbs to add to the rescued food we receive to make our delicious restaurant quality meals. A mushroom lab, bee hives and egg laying chickens will complete the picture.
Get Involved

Individual Volunteers
Share you time, expertise and kindness to care for people in need. Meet other warm hearted people who generously donate their time.

Team Building Volunteering
Please email the below link to receive an information pack for your company to volunteer with us.

Donate
100% run by volunteers means 100% of your donation will go directly towards running our programs.

Media
THE BIG UMBRELLA FILMS
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Corporate Sponsors


















