Geelong Food Relief Centre delivered 150 boxes of essential items and food to Camperdown to distribute throughout the region over the weekend.

Single men make up the majority of those in need of food hampers in the region, St Vincent's Camperdown volunteer Mary Brown said.

"Every day we have families and individuals who are hungry come to us for support," she said.

"Over the last week alone we could have given at least 15 food hampers out to people in need. Lately we have had many single men who are experiencing food stress and we are glad they feel they can come to us for support.

"We couldn't be happier knowing the impact these will have on so many of our local families."

The drive came about after volunteers Elise McKinnon and Lauren Peterson started A Helping Hand last Christmas.

READ MORE: A Helping Hand Christmas in Corangamite brings hope to those in need

Geelong Food Relief Centre chief executive Collin Peebles said more than 14,500 families used the service, equating to more than 36,000 adults and children.

"We heard about A Helping Hand over Christmas through our connections with Deakin University," he said.

"Given the regional need and our ability to assist we were able to send 100 food boxes that were housed at the local school and distributed amongst the community over the Christmas and holiday period.

"The response from our initial donation has been enormous and so welcomed so we are now distributing a further 150 boxes to provide some ongoing relief to local Corangamite families."

St Patrick's School Camperdown principal Michael McKenzie will distribute some of the boxes to his school community.

"There's a range of families these days doing it tough," he said.

"After last year in particular and over Christmas of course there was a lot of need, but we're also seeing now when things are back to normal there are still a whole lot of people suffering so this is a great way of supporting them."

Mercy Regional College Sharon Gillett said many families and secondary students living independently needed support.

"Often you don't know about it until someone else shares that with you, so it's really nice to be able to support them," she said.

"St Vincent's is one of the go-to places so we're very grateful for that support.

"It allows everybody to be the same and have the same opportunities."

Deakin University is working with A Helping Hand to develop its online platform, ahelpinghand.com.au with hopes to reach more communities, starting with Warrnambool.

"A Helping Hand is accessed through registered community and education organisations who can identify and assist those in need," Ms McKinnon said.

"It's an anonymous service with a respect of a person's dignity at the forefront of everything we do.

"We don't need to know the details of who in our local community needs support. We trust that our local schools and community organisations know and can reach out to those who might need a helping hand.

"We are only a connector and hope to assist the incredible work of those who are out there and see and hear first-hand what is needed and how all of us can make a difference to a local's life."

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