Community shines after fire-affected farmer's donation

In a busy kitchen filled with volunteers preparing and cooking meals for community members, a large meat delivery arrives.

It was donated by a farmer forced to euthanise livestock after losing much of his property to bushfires that devastated multiple towns across regional Victoria.

It's a gesture that will bring joy not only to the volunteer group who will use the beef to create nutritious meals, but also to the vulnerable people who will soon enjoy them.

"For our family, it was important to see something positive come out of (the fires)," highlands grazier Cam Stewart tells AAP.

"It was a tricky time, particularly with the cows.

"That was the worst aspect for us, so seeing that meat used in a way that benefited other people was positive."

The fires in the state's central-north burned more than 140,000 hectares, destroying dozens of homes and claiming the life of fellow farmer Max Hobson near Seymour.

Despite the devastation, Mr Stewart was keen to keep moving forward and bring relief to those who needed it most.

A mobile butcher soon visited his farm, before he used his brother's refrigerated van to transport the meat to FareShare's kitchen in Melbourne.

The substantial donation, totalling about 500kg from multiple cows, was warmly welcomed by the charity, which recently merged with SecondBite to operate Australia's largest non-profit kitchens.

Victorian state manager Mathew Reiffel told AAP the meat was used to create meals distributed by a fleet of 18 vehicles across both metro and regional areas.

"This is a heartbreaking story of a farmer who was going to lose a lot of protein due to the fires and rather than let that go to waste, they reached out to us and we were able to accept the donation," he says.

"Our charity kitchen in Abbotsford then turned that into healthy and nutritious frozen meals for the community.

"We were able to take this donation and turn it into hundreds, if not thousands, of frozen meals like spaghetti bolognese, cottage pie and stir fries."

Donating has always been a passion for Mr Stewart, who has been involved with the charity for more than a decade.

He has previously assisted with picking up produce from markets and transporting it back to the organisation's hub in the city's inner suburbs, but this was the first time he had the opportunity to donate such a substantial amount of meat from his farm.

"It was amazing when I drove in. There were people all ready to go and it was just a really easy process," Mr Stewart says.

"Protein is something they would like to get more of."

Demand for food relief in Australia has surged in recent years, with the latest Foodbank Hunger Report revealing almost 3.5 million households are experiencing food insecurity.

Cost-of-living pressures remain a driving force behind the statistics, followed by housing, the economy and health care.

Almost half of all households believe their financial situation will stay the same in the coming year, leaving many to rely on food relief organisations for help.

FareShare often teams up with primary producers who donate fresh produce to its kitchen, including Flavorite, the country's biggest greenhouse tomato producer.

"We donate everything from our tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers," spokesman Tom Millis tells AAP.

"We're always looking to donate, rather than see it go to landfill."

In the past year, the company has donated 162 tons of fruit and vegetables to food relief organisations.

Each week, the charity's kitchen turns out more than 20,000 meal equivalents, and there's always a need for fresh produce and meat to keep those ready-to-eat meals flowing.

"The ready-to-eat meals covers the 'right now' side of things, whereas the fresh produce and protein still allows people to have the experience of cooking at home and providing a meal at their dinner table that way,' Mr Reiffel says.

"Donations of food can make such a difference to our organisation, as we pride ourselves on our agility and speed of being able to receive those donations and get them very quickly out into the hands of the community partners across the state.

"This (means) that the freshness remains as high as it can be and also ensures there is a dignity portion to all of those receiving the donated food."