Giving week launch as SA charities forced to turn hungry away
A new initiative backed by some of the nation’s top philanthropists is putting generosity in the spotlight for the first time in South Australia, while the state’s food charities are forced to turn people away.
As two-thirds of South Australian food charities report they need more food to meet growing demand, a new initiative is hoping to inspire South Australians to give generously and often.
Founded by prominent Adelaide-based philanthropist Kay Burton, the first-ever SA Giving Week is being held from May 4 to 8, bringing together philanthropists with businesses, charities and not-for-profits to encourage more South Australians to support causes they care about.
It has been backed by the likes of the Minderoo Foundation – Australian mining billionaire Andrew Twiggy Forrest’s philanthropy vehicle – as well as wealthy South Australian businessman Geoff Day and the Nunn Dimos Foundation.
Burton – also the founder of the SA Philanthropy Network and tech platform GiveSA – said the week was about more than donating money and that she hoped to inspire South Australians to give back in any way they can.
“Giving takes many different forms, and we wanted to be able to encourage every South Australian to get behind the campaign in a way that was meaningful to them,” Burton told InDaily.
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“Whether that’s volunteering their time, their talent or their treasure – as we would say: the three t’s.”
Across the week, there are 17 free events being hosted to motivate philanthropy and giving, and offer practical pathways for anyone interested in donating their time, money or skills.
“Each event caters to different audiences, from advisors to business leaders to not-for-profit leaders to philanthropists and people looking to explore how they can give back,” she said.
Chair of Impact 100 SA and Zoos SA board president Kathryn House is taking part in the week and presenting on collective giving on the Friday. She told InDaily that philanthropy “gave me a sense of purpose”.
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“Giving could be your money, could be your time. At the Zoo, we have more volunteers than staff. Without volunteers, we couldn’t exist,” she said.
“People do that because they really care about the kind of society they want to live in.”
It comes as OzHarvest today unveiled new figures showing 69 per cent of South Australian charities are reporting an increasing demand for services, with two in three saying they do not have enough food to meet the demand.
The OzHarvest 2026 Frontline Report also found that 32 per cent of people from South Australia are seeking food relief for the first time, including mortgage holders and double-income households.
Children are now one of the largest groups accessing food relief as the cost-of-living bites for Australian households, the report found.
OzHarvest CEO James Goth said demand spikes for food relief were the “canary in the coalmine for household stress”.
“One in five people are being turned away because the support system is under-resourced. The charities we deliver food to are working hard to support their local communities, but two-thirds say they need more to meet demand,” he said.
“For the first time in OzHarvest’s history, our waitlist is longer than the list of charities we can currently reach.”
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