A MAITLAND charity that provides free food to disadvantaged children and ensures struggling primary school canteens remain open is at risk after being slugged with new fees by the Department of Education.
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In January, Catering Maitland received a $20,000 bill from the NSW government department for the bond on six Maitland primary school canteens the non-profit rescued from closure.
The registered charity was set up by the Rutherford Telarah Rotary Club after seeing too many Lower Hunter primary school canteens struggle or collapse.
Michael Weatherall, secretary of the Rotary club and Catering Maitland, said the service ran on a "very thin line" and that paying extra government fees would mean children in need would not be fed.
The service operates school canteens at Maitland, Metford, Woodberry, Gillieston, Morpeth and Rutherford public schools.
It also provides free breakfast services at several of the schools.
"It's a really simple equation, if we have to pay these government charges hungry school children who are in need will miss out on being fed," Mr Weatherall said.
"The cost of food is spiralling and we have to be very, very careful with how we spend every dollar. There is not $20,000 sitting in a tin for the Department of Education."
Faced with closure, Mr Weatherall contacted Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison earlier this year and said the department then offered to reduce the cost to $500 per canteen, or $3000.
It's a fee the service cannot afford to pay.
The biggest issue facing many school canteens is finding volunteers to staff them.
Catering Maitland runs the canteens like a business, it employs a manager to oversee the day-to-day operations and 12 casual staff to run the canteens.
Mr Weatherall said all other positions were volunteer and any profits from the canteens were used to fund the free school breakfast programs.
He said the charity accepted donations and prominent Maitland businessman Hilton Grugeon was a patron.
All the canteen menus are the same, creating cost savings, with the focus on nutrition, quality and affordability.
"We run canteens in little schools that are not commercially viable, the idea is we are looking after the children," Mr Weatherall said.
"We have never been charged bonds on school canteens before and every dollar we pay to the government is a dollar we have to find."
Mr Weatherall said he offered to pay $1 bond on each school canteen to ensure the current arrangements continued.
"I was told that the renewal of the licence would depend on whether we owed the department money or not," he said.
"They won't get anyone else to run the canteens, they will close. The whole thing just seems so ridiculous to me."
He recalled an incident at Woodberry public school several years ago when a young boy came up to canteen staff on a Monday morning looking for food.
"The boy was only small and said that there had been no food at home all weekend," he said.
"So of course we fed him and looked after him, that is what the service is there for. We are there to help."
The Newcastle Herald understands NSW Department of Education is willing to consider the $1 security deposit once it receives a written request from the charity.
"We are confident this can be resolved as quickly as possible," a department spokesperson said.
"We greatly value the service that providers like Catering Maitland offer to school communities.
"We have been working with Catering Maitland and have reduced their security deposit by 80 per cent, in addition to reducing their canteen licence fees."
