Thankfully the truck was recovered, and in an effort to prevent the charity being targeted by thieves again in the future RAA has helped improve security at Foodbank’s Edwardstown headquarters.

Foodbank SA Chief Executive Officer Greg Pattinson said he was bitterly disappointed thieves had targeted a charity, which helped thousands of South Australians across the state.

“All it’s going to do is hurt people in South Australia who need our assistance,” he said.

The truck, found only a couple of kilometres from the warehouse, had its ignition damaged and battery stolen.

Community support helped Foodbank get the truck back on the road within a week, and RAA Trade Assist installed two sensor floodlights at their warehouse to increase security in the area.

“The sensor lights will help deter people who want to come and take from us because the carpark area in the front of our building will light up as soon as there’s movement,” Mr Pattinson said.

“We’d really like to thank RAA and Trade Assist for their help. This type of trade support enables our team to continue providing food relief to those in our community that may otherwise go without.”

RAA Senior Manager Market Development Ben Halman said the RAA Trade Assist team was proud to help such a vital service like Foodbank.

“When RAA Trade Assist heard that Foodbank SA was the victim of a truck theft, we understood that some of our members would be impacted by Foodbank’s reduced capacity,” Mr Halman said.

“In partnership with our community outreach area, Trade Assist immediately offered our services to help make the Foodbank site more secure by installing floodlights.

“We know this will help Foodbank ensure they can help all South Australians and RAA members that are suffering from food insecurity.”

Foodbank has been helping South Australians in need for more than 20 years and provides food for about 10,000 people a month.