A new discount food pantry could be on the cards in Lismore if a new collaboration goes ahead.

But, how the collaboration will work and where the new food outlet will be, is still under discussion.

Amar Singh, from food charity Turbans 4 Australia, said the Winsome Soup Kitchen and the Catholic Church had been in discussions with his organization about how and where to open a discount food pantry in Lismore.

Since the February floods, a number of free food outlets have sprung up – from the Foodbank at the Koori Mail - to a free food distribution centre at the Used Furniture warehouse at 51 Wyrallah Road. 

The Wyrallah Road centre ceased operating a few weeks ago, due to a lack of funding. Turbans 4 Australia was the organising group keeping it going at the time.

Amar said that it was possible the new food pantry would operate out of the Used Furniture building temporarily – while another location was found.

“The warehouse is not suitable for disability access,” Amar said. “There are also issues with the wooden floorboards not being able to hold the weight of heavy palettes.

“We are looking for a long term premises. We were looking at the old Foodworks supermarket earlier in the year and we are still considering – the owners have offered us a 50% discount on the rent since the flood.”

Amar said Turbans 4 Australia had already delivered 250 palettes of food to Lismore since the February flood. After months of working to help the people of Lismore, he is keen to see the new collaboration go ahead.

“But we need more funding from the government,” he said.

“We have a number of grant applications in at the moment and we have been diverting donations from Sydney into Lismore – there’s only so much we can do.

“Now we need to rethink the future. We were originally building a community kitchen in Sydney and put it on hold when the floods came.

“We still plan on building it, but there is more need in Lismore Turbans for Australia.

“We will also be looking for volunteers to help run it once we open.”