{"id":85383,"date":"2026-09-01T23:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T23:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/85383\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T23:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T23:53:16","slug":"peel-volunteer-leandri-cronje-becomes-finalist-in-coles-community-food-relief-champion-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/85383\/","title":{"rendered":"Peel volunteer Leandri Cronje becomes finalist in Coles Community Food Relief Champion Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greenfields local Leandri Cronje has been named a WA finalist in the Coles Community Food Relief Champion Awards for her contributions to Bridge Builders Inc.<\/p>\n

Ms Cronje has volunteered for the local charity since 2018 and now works as operations manager overseeing community food relief programs that support local families doing it tough.<\/p>\n

\"BridgeCamera IconBridge Builders operations manager Leandri Cronje. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

She has helped expand food relief support in response to growing community need and has played a key role in growing the Backpack Buddies initiative into a structured program supporting more than 280 children each weekend.<\/p>\n

Ms Cronje said she felt honoured and excited to be named a finalist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has never been about recognition, though, but knowing that what we do is making a real difference in people\u2019s lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf being recognised can also inspire someone else to get involved, then that makes it even more special.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really hope everyone gets the opportunity to find their purpose. I have surely found mine, doing what I love, while helping the Mandurah community that welcomed me with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridge Builders CEO Kelly Hinder said she felt very lucky to have Ms Cronje beside her at the charity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen first-hand just how much of herself Leandri gives to our organisation and the families we support,\u201d Ms Hinder said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs CEO, I\u2019m incredibly proud to see her recognised nationally. But on a personal level, I\u2019m even prouder to see someone who gives so much, often without seeking any recognition, have her contribution acknowledged.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BridgeCamera IconBridge Builders operations manager Leandri Cronje. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

Through the Community Food Relief Champion Awards, Coles is contributing $60,000 to local food relief champions and their charities across Australia.<\/p>\n

As a finalist, Ms Cronje\u2019s organisation will receive a $1000 Coles gift card to support its food relief work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people coming through our doors aren\u2019t always who you\u2019d expect. We\u2019re seeing working families, people with mortgages and double incomes who are still finding it tough to put food on the table,\u201d Ms Cronje said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we\u2019re seeing schools asking for more support because they know there are kids going hungry over the weekend. That\u2019s why programs like Backpack Buddies matter so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The awards go hand in hand with Coles\u2019 first Community Food Relief Appeal in partnership with SecondBite and Foodbank, giving its customers a new way to help provide more meals to Australians facing food hardship.<\/p>\n

Coles chief executive officer Leah Weckert said the appeal gave customers and suppliers a way to support the work food relief partners do every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know many Australians are doing it tough. While food relief alone cannot address the broader cost-of-living pressures facing households, it can provide vital and immediate support for people who are going without,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, our team members set aside unsold, edible food for SecondBite and Foodbank so it can reach local charities and communities where it is needed most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Customers can donate at any Coles checkout nationally until September 1. The appeal has helped provide more than 377 million meals to Australians in need to date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greenfields local Leandri Cronje has been named a WA finalist in the Coles Community Food Relief Champion Awards…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3880,335,464],"class_list":["post-85383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-mandurah","tag-perth","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}