FoodShare celebrated a remarkable night at the Albury Wodonga Business Awards, (Friday 7 August 2026) taking home three awards from three nominations – recognising the people, partnerships and innovation behind our work.
FoodShare was honoured with:
- Outstanding Community Organisation
- Excellence in Innovation
- Outstanding Employee – Nicole Eirth, Community Pantry Coordinator
We were incredibly proud to have received these awards, which celebrate the collective contribution of our broader community who make FoodShare’s work possible. FoodShare has always been built on the kindness and generosity of our community, and we were especially grateful to receive this recognition as we celebrate 15 years of serving our community.
FoodShare was the inaugural winner of the Outstanding Community Organisation Award last year, so it was wonderful to have our ongoing contribution to the community recognised. These awards reflect the incredible collective efforts of our volunteers, staff, partners, donors and supporters who continue to make a difference across our region.
Turning surplus energy into community impact
The Excellence in Innovation Award recognised an idea that transformed the way FoodShare approached one of our everyday operating costs: energy.
Two years ago, we didn’t even know what a Virtual Energy Network (VEN) was. In the first year, 70 per cent of our surplus energy was shared across our five sites. We then expanded our VEN earlier this year to include seven other community organisations across regional Victoria, extending the benefits well beyond FoodShare.
Through our Powered by Our Community initiative, we’re building on this success by encouraging businesses to share their surplus energy to support a growing network of community organisations – so more resources can be focused on community programs instead of power bills.
For FoodShare, innovation is about finding smarter ways to use the resources available in our community to create lasting impact The more FoodShare and other community organisations can reduce what is spent on essential operating costs, the more resources that can be redirected into programs and services that directly support local people.
This award reflects the people and partnerships behind the project, as well as a team willing to embrace new ideas and explore just how far we can stretch our resources for the benefit of our community
A very special win for our team
One of the proudest moments of the night was seeing our Community Pantry Coordinator, Nicole Eirth, named Outstanding Employee.
Nicole’s story at FoodShare began as a volunteer during the height of COVID. Under her care and commitment, she grew a simple hamper service into FoodShare’s Community Pantry program, which now supports more than 600 families each month.
Nicole works alongside an amazing team of volunteers who rescue food, prepare hampers and help people access our social supermarket. Her Outstanding Employee Award was well-deserved recognition for her dedication and contribution to building the Community Pantry program from the ground up, while always keeping the people who use the service at the heart of everything she does.
Three awards, one community
The three awards are an incredible achievement, but most importantly they represent 15 years of people coming together to help people. They also reflect the contribution of volunteers giving their time, donors and businesses sharing their resources, community organisations working together, and continually finding new ways to make every dollar, every donation and even every kilowatt of energy go further.
The Albury Wodonga Business Awards are a long-standing celebration of excellence, recognising the many organisations, businesses and individuals contributing to the strength of our region. FoodShare congratulate all finalists and celebrates the achievements of all the organisations recognised on the night.
