Businesses stepping up to support homeless in need

On August 31 and September 1, Coles Batemans Bay delivered donations to Surfside's Food Hub and Moruya Anglicare, to be given directly into the hands of the people who most need them.

Coles Regional Manger John Appleby - himself a Batemans Bay local - said the initiative began when his wife was upset one evening after scrolling through more and more posts about the homelessness crisis on social media.

"After that we asked 'how could we help', and 'what could we do in this space?'" he said.

He contacted mayor Mathew Hatcher, who directed Mr Appleby to emergency relief coordinator for south coast Anglicare Pauline Sullivan.

Together, they decided to prioritise making hampers for individuals and families.

Between the two charities, Coles donated 55 family hampers, 30 individual hampers, almost 250 kilograms of fruit and vegetables and books and kids toys.

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Mr Appleby said he was quite emotional when customers at Surfside's Food Hub clapped as the Coles vehicle drove off, having dropped off hampers and donations.

"There's a lot of people out there less fortunate than us and we really want to make a difference," he said.

"Coles is trying to be a part of the community," he said. "If we can make a difference, that is really important."

The hampers delivered to Anglicare will be taken to North Head Campground, Moruya, and given to the more than 50 families and individuals living there. Some hampers were unloaded from the truck straight into the waiting arms of people who had arrived in need at the Anglicare facilities that morning.

Coles Batemans Bay store manager Matt Gray said when they returned to the Coles store after the drop off, they were so emotionally impacted that his team instantly started thinking about how they could increase their giving and their impact.

"We straight away started thinking 'what else can we do? How can we do more?'" he said.

In a recent SecondBite promotion, Coles Batemans Bay raised more than $6000 for those in need in the local community - among the top 10 highest amounts across all 800 Coles stores nationally.

Coles, like Moruya Bowling Club earlier this year, is demonstrating, as Mr Appleby said, "that a hurting community can still come together to support each other".