When the cupboard is bare
- deansimpson7
- Oct 13
- 6 min read
Will knows hunger all too well. As a young boy growing up in Melbourne in a single-parent home from the age of nine, he endured nights when sleep replaced dinner and the fridge stood empty. Now a successful IT Executive, Will shared his experience of food hunger and insecurity with Salvos Online journalist LERISSE SMITH to shine a light on hidden hunger during Anti-Poverty Week – and how the Salvos helped transform his family’s life.
The moment Will first poured Coco Pops cereal into a bowl of full-cream milk is indelibly imprinted into his memory.
He was 10 years old.
But it wasn’t just a long-awaited breakfast cereal treat or chocolatey indulgence that made it memorable.
For Will, it was a defining and momentous occasion – one that signalled, for the first time in a long time, life was going to be okay. His stomach would be full of delicious treats thanks to the Salvos Foodbank. There was finally food in the house to enjoy – not just rations to barely survive on.
And with it came something even more nourishing: hope.
“I had not been able to have Coco Pops ever as a child up until that point,” he recalled.
“Knowing food was for survival, not enjoyment, was the source of shame and embarrassment. I recall feeling desperate at meal times to satisfy hunger. Food was a competition amongst me and my siblings. When we got home (from the foodbank) and loaded up the cupboard, it was full. I remember thinking this is what other people's cupboards normally look like, and the next morning, full cream milk, Coco Pops was there in a bowl.”
Before food instability and eating for survival, not enjoyment, took hold between the ages of nine and 16, Will remembers a time when life was easier as a young boy. His parents were together and both worked steady jobs. They weren’t wealthy, but things were stable.
However, finances and money were often a heated discussion point at home. It came with problems, it came with challenges, and it came with arguments. It was never far from Will’s mind that money was tied to safety – even as a child.
Then life changed forever.
“My mum disappeared,” he said. “We came back from being up the shops, came back home, and she had disappeared, all the stuff gone.”
From that day forward, survival replaced stability.
Now a single dad, his father struggled to work, to pull himself up, to pull himself together, to care for his children and provide for them.
Will recalled how their family went from not struggling to worrying about food and where the next meal would come from on a daily basis. Rapidly, he was thrown into thinking about how the family would get the next meal.
“It was all about problems,” he remarked. “It was like, what next? Where do we go to?”
WATCH: An animation video of Will’s story will be uploaded on Salvos Online of Wednesday morning
Desperation at mealtimes quickly set in, and food became a competition between Will and his siblings, each vying for the biggest or extra portion, pleading their case to their father.
“I didn’t have a sense of dread about our situation, we (myself and my siblings) just knew that we ate for survival,” he reflected. “And other families seemed to eat for enjoyment.”
These differences stood out most at friends’ houses, where leftovers were common, a foreign experience for Will, and name-brand items like tomato sauce sat freely on the table – never rationed.
“I would get embarrassed to invite these friends over knowing dinner at my house was widely different,” he remarked. “Inviting a friend over for dinner was another mouth to feed, which meant someone was going with less.”
Life also became quickly about getting by – however they could.
“Almost to survive, you knew that you had to do some things that you weren’t comfortable with,” he explained. “Being known as ‘cheap’ or a ‘scab’ among schoolmates, as I didn’t have my own food, rather I would need to go and hassle (or beg) other kids for their food.”
Compounding the family’s struggles was a deep scepticism toward those offering help, especially Christian organisations. Their mother had “somewhat weaponised Christian values and beliefs”, leaving the family wary of faith-based groups. At school, church-run lunch programs allowed the opportunity for Will to enjoy free food, but the distrust remained.
“I look back and they were such nice people, such genuinely nice people. But I was horrible to them,” Will reflected. “I was thinking, I’m getting the free food, but you are not going to catch me believing in this God thing.”
At home, some nights were worse than others. At times, it meant sleep replaced a nonexistent dinner.
Then came a major turning point.
A mother of Will’s friend, active in the church, dropped off some bread to their doorstep, expecting nothing in return and with no questions asked. Suddenly, the friendship went from being good to great, Will recalled. Cheesy rolls, Boston Buns were just some of the “good stuff”.
She mentioned a Foodbank run by Salvos was available anytime if they ever needed food, disarming the feeling that the Salvos wanted something in return. So, the family decided to check it out.
Unsure of what to expect, Will’s father piled his family into the car and drove to the Foodbank. In a little community hall, the family were given a basket and told they could choose whatever they wanted – much to their disbelief. The food was laid out. No strings attached. No questions. Just help.
The family filled their basket in disbelief, amazed to find themselves choosing branded items instead of the usual no-name basics.
“I remember we just walked out and were like, what was that?!” Will recalled.
From then on, the family knew the Salvos would be there – and when the cupboards were bare. At school, Will felt the difference too. No longer the ‘scab kid’, he appreciated that the Salvos team offered help without a forced ‘God chat’.
“I was anticipating they were going to hit us with some God chat,” he said. “I am so glad that they didn’t because it would have been such a barrier for us. What stuck around in my mind was just the desire to help above all else – that’s where it started.”
His father, burdened with shame and pride, started to soften. He began attending parenting groups and connecting with community. Life had one less worry, and food was finally enjoyed, not rationed or begged for such as in the past years.
Now, as an adult with a fiancée, home and career, Will describes himself as a very open-minded person to people's beliefs, perspectives and what drives him to be a good person. That is who he is today. He reflects back on the tough years and the many lessons learned.
So, what would he tell his younger self?
“You can trust people,” he emphasised. “Have your wits about you ... ask for help because you are worthy of it.
Now working in the IT Industry, Will has a different perspective on the Christian organisation that exists to help others. Everyone is driven by the same purpose and the same motivation, he remarked.
“They are compelled by a mission,” he said. “Salvos were part of the food, but they are also part of some of these communities, some of these groups.
“And when we would come across someone from the Salvos, my immediate thought was, they are here to help. They are part of the good ones; they are the trustworthy ones. It reframed who they are in my life.”
And his life motto?
To this day, his purpose is made up of three pillars: make a dollar, make a difference, and don’t die doing it – in that order! He wants to earn enough to be comfortable, to show up and make a positive difference in the community, and to ensure that being healthy is always a priority.
For those just surviving in the community and in need of help, he has a message.
“Show up as you are,” he emphasised. “You don’t need to know exactly what you want. Just start somewhere, let them know what some of the things that you’re struggling with and see what comes forward. Take one step at a time. Trust that someone knows these sorts of challenges – and that they are going to help you through it.”
