Marcus Godinho

My responsibilities: Developing One Umbrella’s direction and managing staff and volunteers. I’m also involved in fundraising, communicating with supporters, reporting to the board of directors and the organisation’s administration.

Our team: We have four employees and last year 850 volunteers worked with us.

Our greatest challenges: Increasing the amount of food we rescue and making more meals to meet the growing need for emergency food relief. Sourcing appropriate storage when offered large volumes of food at very short notice. Finding charities and agencies to take food we can’t store and getting it to them. Raising public awareness of hunger and malnutrition issues here in Melbourne.

Differences between the NFP and private sectors: NFP sector staff and volunteers need to be more resourceful. They also have a very high level of motivation and commitment. Success for the private sector is usually judged by income generated relative to capital invested. NFT organizations have to fulfil their purpose (eg. reducing the number of people living in poverty) as well as generating income.

My tips for volunteers: Do your homework so you can select an organisation and project that you’ll enjoy. Think about benefits you may gain such as meeting new people and developing new skills. Consider the people with whom you’ll be working.

What I find most rewarding: The daily feedback from emergency relief charities who visit our kitchen to collect 100, 200, 400 meals to distribute to people they support. They are so grateful. Our free meals save precious funds for soup vans, homeless shelters, and food banks.