Margaret McFarland used to make ends meet by splitting the bills with her husband. He died 18 months ago and since then everything has become more expensive.
"I used to be able to buy everything I needed for under $100. The last time I shopped, and I didn't even buy half of what I needed, it was $164," Ms McFarland says.
"It is a really, really big jump. That wasn't even buying fruit and vegetables, and very, very little meat."
The 79-year-old pensioner says that after doing a little bit of shopping her fortnightly pension of just over $1,000 is mostly gone.
Ms McFarland says the cost of council rates and power bills has also been a problem.
She cancelled her household insurance and didn't use a heater in her home last winter, using a blanket instead to save on electricity.
To help save on food costs, she drives from her home in North Bondi to the OzHarvest market at the Waterloo social housing estate.
Customers are offered free fresh fruit and vegetables, cereal, pasta and bread.
The food, rescued by OzHarvest from supermarkets, would have otherwise gone to landfill because it's close to its best-before date or can't be sold before expiry.
When ABC Radio Sydney visited the market, Ms McFarland was the first waiting in line.
"It's enabled me to pay bills that I wasn't able to pay before," she says.
ABC Gives is partnering with OzHarvest to bring attention to the hunger and food waste crisis in Australia.
Growing demand for relief
About 400 people come through the Waterloo site every day, market manager Zuzana Droppa says.
"We have seen the need increase exponentially in the last few months, especially since there were issues with floods," she says.
The food-rescue charity, which opened the market in 2020, says it has served 85,000 people in the past 12 months.
In addition to helping put food on the table, Ms Droppa says the market gives customers access to food with more nutritional value that they might not otherwise be able to afford.
"So many times the customers mentioned that thanks to us, their health has improved," Ms Droppa says.
Checking in
In the line outside, volunteers check in with customers to let them know what is available inside, but also to check in on how they are going.
Carmel began volunteering when she started working part-time in her teaching job and has since made "wonderful" friends through these interactions.
"We have a chat and you get to know their history and their problems," Carmel says.
"Sometimes you're a shoulder for them to cry on."
Ms Droppa says kindness from the volunteers is part of the offering.
"This is a place where they find that safe haven, where we accept them for who they are," Ms Droppa says.
"It's a holistic approach of giving them the food and nourishing their souls."
