Without women, we all go hungry

The great thing about feast@home and feast@work is that your Feast can be as simple or as extravagant as you like! For example, you can organise a simple brunch with your friends, a picnic with your mother’s group, a shared-platters lunch with colleagues or a three-course dinner with family and friends. The size and scope of the event is really up to you.

For those of you looking for some assistance in planning your event we have developed the following simple tips.

When should I host my feast@home or feast@work?
Feast is held nationally throughout March and April to celebrate International Women’s Day. You can choose the date that best suits you and your friends and colleagues. We know how busy everyone is these days so we recommend you get your invitations out early to ensure the best turn out to your event.

If you would like to register as a host for 2009, please visit the Register Now page, download the form, and send it back to us at IWDA, PO Box 64, Flinders Lane, VIC 8009.

Who should I invite?
This is your event - so invite whoever you would like: friends, family, colleagues and/or neighbours. Your event can be as big or small as you like. Invitations for your Feast event can be downloaded from this website.

Where should I hold my Feast event?
Most people hold their feast@home at home and their feast@work in their workplace, but you can have an event wherever you like, a restaurant, a school, or a picnic in the park.
Feast tip: If you’re having your Feast in your home, ask people to bring a plate to share so you have time to enjoy yourself at the event.

What’s expected on the night?
The event can be whatever you want to make it. We’d suggest you celebrate the vital role that access to affordable, sufficient, safe and nutritious food plays in the well being of women and their families and communities and celebrate sharing food together, as food is shared in many cultures.

Are there Feast materials I can use?
Yes! feast@home and feast@work logos, posters and invitations can easily be downloaded from this website. Click here to visit the materials page.

How do I go about raising money at my event?
The easiest way to raise funds is to ask your guests for a donation of what they would usually spend on a meal eating out or to charge a set entry fee (e.g. $25 per person). However, many of our hosts like to be creative in raising extra funds. For example, you could sell some very cute Kachin pins, made by women in the refugee camps on the Thai Burma border, at $5 each – they’re a great way to support women.

Kachin Pins

If you are interested in selling Kachin pins, please contact us to arrange postage or to pick them up from our office.

How do I go about collecting donations?
We have provided donation coupons in your host kit. These are for your guests to complete and return to you. We have designed this process to ensure that your guests feel comfortable with the donation process and have a way to leave their details for receipts (all donations over $2 are tax deductible). All you have to do is hand a donation coupon to each of your guests and ask them to donate generously –the forms are simple to complete and include instructions. At the end of the night simply collect the donations together with their donation coupon from your guests.

Feast tip – If your friends or colleagues can’t make it to your Feast, provide them with a donation coupon anyway – they will probably want to contribute even if they can’t join in the fun.

How do I get the funds raised to IWDA?

Once you have held your feast@home or feast@work event, and all the donations have been collected, you need to fulfill your host commitments by sending the funds back to the IWDA no later than 14 days after your event.
You will probably have collected money from many different sources and may have received funds by cash, cheque or credit card; so to make the banking process as simple and easy as possible we have created some step-by-step instructions.

Please click here to download the banking instructions.

Where does the money go?

International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) is an Australian non-profit organisation that creates positive change for women and their communities. Our practical and rights-based projects directly address poverty and oppression in developing countries.

For over 20 years, IWDA has worked with more than 100 grassroots organisations in the developing world, to support and advance the life choices and well being of women and their families. IWDA undertakes projects in partnership with women from the Asia Pacific region. These projects are devised and managed by women who live and work in the communities themselves, which fosters practical and innovative responses to the issues womens view as most critical.

We currently work in eleven countries on 31 projects with 25 partners and 3 coalitions of partners. For detailed information on the work undertaken in 2007-08 please read our Annual Report.
The development which IWDA promotes is the equitable growth of people and communities, and the just distribution of basic resources and respect for human rights