Feast for a good cause
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
BY LERISSE SMITH
Beneath the soaring stained-glass ceiling of the Great Hall at the National Gallery of Victoria, fine dining will meet frontline food relief in a powerful act of community fundraising.
Feast to Feed 2026, a culinary spectacular and flagship fundraising event for Melbourne’s food relief organisation, Alex Makes Meals, will bring together some of Australia’s most celebrated chefs, food producers and community leaders alongside members of the public, to help tackle food insecurity across Melbourne – including communities supported by The Salvation Army.
Every dollar raised on the night, including ticket sales, will go directly to Alex Makes Meals’ vital mission: to produce and deliver free, nutritious, chef-prepared meals to people experiencing hardship across Melbourne.
“We’ve been working with The Salvation Army for about six years now, providing meals through locations in Sunshine and St Kilda,” says founder Alex Dekker, who has overseen more than one million meals since starting the organisation six years ago.
“These sites distribute about 15,000 meals per year. Through this partnership, the centres can provide healthy, nutritious meals, helping create trusting relationships, which in turn can encourage people to access the additional support. We see food as a way to bring people together. That’s what our community partnerships are all about, and it’s what Feast to Feed is all about, too.”
For the Salvos, the impact of Alex Makes Meals has been immediate and life-giving.
Reflecting on the impact at the grassroots level, Captain Phuong Reynolds, Sunshine Corps Officer, said that Alex and his team had made an amazing and significant contribution to their local community over the past few years, often stepping in at critical times to ensure no one went without a nutritious, tasty meal.
“Their support has been critical to our corps, enabling us to provide tasty meals to those who need it the most,” she remarked.
“They came to our rescue during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing meals for so many of our community members, and have continued to support us since that time with their generosity. We continue to work with Alex and his team to make a positive and significant difference in our community through providing a lot of food to vulnerable people who visit us each week.”
Great food, fun and festivity are high on the agenda for the event to be held on Saturday, 20 June, featuring a five-course menu.
Feast to Feed 2026 aims to surpass last year’s $130,000 raised, with a line-up of renowned chefs including Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan, Emelia Jackson, Nat Thaipun, Andrea Vignali, and MasterChef Australia’s Sofia Levin as Master of Ceremonies.
“This year, the event is going to be bigger and better than ever,” says Alex.
“We’re hosting under the stained glass of the iconic Great Hall at the National Gallery of Victoria, and the bigger location means we can seat more people and raise more money for food relief in Melbourne. Every ticket sale allows us to distribute more than 250 meals to vulnerable people all over the city each day, helping us meet demand that is only ever increasing.”
Securing some of Australia’s leading chefs was central to the vision.
“Each of these chefs are people I greatly admire and have grown up admiring,” says Alex.
“I remember watching Matt and Gary on the first series of MasterChef when I was nine years old! To have all of these renowned chefs involved is incredible. I’m starstruck, but it also speaks to the value of what we do at Alex Makes Meals. They’re volunteering their time to help us out and make a difference because we’re doing important work that resonates with them.”
It’s a belief rooted in a simple philosophy: that a meal is more than just food – it’s a way to show care and make someone feel seen. He added that chefs often understood, more than most, how good food can bring people together and build community.
At Alex Makes Meals, that idea shapes everything. Food not as charity, but as care; not as transaction, but as connection. And that connection between food and dignity sits at its core.
What began as a spontaneous kitchen response in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic has grown into one of Melbourne’s most significant food-relief operations.
In March 2020, unable to visit his immunocompromised family, Alex channelled his energy into cooking for his sister and her fellow healthcare workers battling COVID-19 on the frontlines.
One lasagna became 10. Ten became a hundred. A hundred became a movement.
Today, the organisation delivers more than 4000 meals each week to people in crisis. Its model is simple yet deliberate: prioritising dignity through quality – fresh ingredients, chef-prepared meals in professional kitchens; consistent nutritional standards; and treating recipients as valued community members.
Dignity and nutrition are key drivers of the organisation.
“We’ve proven that when you respect people enough to serve them quality food, you don’t just fill stomachs” reflects Alex. “You restore dignity, build community, and create lasting change.”
Today, major corporations, including Toyota and Nando’s, support the organisation, recognising the impact of its approach.
“Our mission is to provide nutritious meals to Melburnians in crisis while connecting them with essential support services, ensuring no one faces hunger alone,” says Alex.
“Ultimately, our vision is a Melbourne where every person facing hardship has access to nutritious meals and the dignity of quality food, powered by community compassion and local action.”
Everyone is welcome to Feast to Feed 2026 hosted by One Light Many Hearts Foundation. The evening will include live and silent auctions. Tickets can be purchased through the following link: https://events.humanitix.com/feast-to-feed-2026
(Left) Volunteers are an integral part of the success of the food relief organisation. Alex helps prepare another box of meals with one of his volunteers. (Right) Alex Makes Meals Head Chef, Heather, ensures meals delivered to the most vulnerable are tasty and nutritious.
