And thanks to Canterbury Bankstown Council’s generous waiving of hire fires totally $2,929.50, they can provide almost 6,000 more meals.
Manager of the Oz Harvest Hamper and Hubs Service, Shannon Richardson, said having the fees waived was fantastic and they were also grateful to State MP for Lakemba, Jihad Dib, for all of his behind the scenes work and putting them in touch with local agencies and charities whom they also support with hampers.
“We had our eye on Lakemba for a while as it was identified as having a real need for our service,” she said.
“We run a similar hub for overseas students in Darling Harbour but quickly realised, we would have to tailor our food items to Lakemba and so offer a wide range of fresh vegetables, fruit and eggs as well as pantry items like olive oil, rice, lentils and cans of chickpeas, beans and tomatoes.”
With the aim of reducing barriers, the service is open to anyone in need, regardless of Centrelink status, and operates on Tuesdays, 8am-3pm.
Ms Richardson said she was surprised at the amount of inquiries to volunteer on the days which she welcomes: “Anyone who would like to help us with the unloading, packing or serving, can see me on the day or email shannon.richardson@ozharvest.org.”
