A local community house has received a $39,417 grant from the State Government to expand its efforts to provide fresh and affordable food relief.
The Whittlesea Community House (WCH) was over the moon when Member for Mernda Lauren Kathage announced funding for the Whittlesea Township Fresh Food Co-op and a program to prepare and distribute frozen meals to communities in need and budget cooking classes.
“I was proud to advocate for Whittlesea Community House to receive this grant funding. This Fresh Food Co-Op will be a vital asset for the local community,” she said.
“Dedicated community organisations like Whittlesea Community House have the local knowledge and connections to best respond to local needs, and to provide fresh food relief where it’s needed most.”
Funding will strengthen community engagement by including students at Whittlesea Secondary College and those on placement at WCH.
WCH Manager Mary-Lynn Griffith said the program supports local fresh food producers.
“We wanted to connect with local farmers. “The boxes contain the basics. If you don’t want what’s in the box, there’s a share table and you can pass it on,” she said.
“The funding is for one year. We’ve got to build up other ways to cover the shortfall of about $200 a week.
“We’re going to do pay it forward boxes. Another way the community can support us is to use our Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) program. We are processing 4,500 containers every week, and in the first eight months we handed out $43,000 to the community in cash.
Sophie Gray, author of ‘The Destitute Gourmet’ will run three cooking classes (in August).
The grant is also funding a program for homeless people living in their cars.
“The City of Whittlesea helped us get food handling certificates, and we’ve got a freezer to store the food which we give to homeless people living in their cars,” Ms Griffth said.
To celebrate the launch an afternoon tea featuring fresh produce was prepared by volunteer Debbie Morrow.
Ms Morrow said following the Black Saturday Bushfires the Community House coordinated free food relief and legal advice.
Fast forward 14 years and Ms Morrow is a grower supplying fresh produce for the program.
Co-operative Co-Ordinator Ursula Jenkins said some of their growers’ produce is usually reserved for restaurants or exports and she hopes more farmers come on board.
Uniting Church Foodshare coordinator David Kleesh attended the launch and praised the program.
“This gives people another option. We give food away, but for all sorts of reasons people do and don’t want to come to come to different organisations. This is a tight knit community too and the boxes are very cheap,” Mr Kleesh said.
The Whittlesea Community House CDS is open every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday 10am to 3pm at 92A Church Street, Whittlesea.
To order a fresh food box, contact the WCH by Tuesday. The boxes will be available to collect the following Thursday, between 12pm and 6pm from 78 Laurel Street, Whittlesea—call Ursula on 9716 3361.
