No need to go hungry in Sydney
J-Wire is publishing a list of organisations that are providing food for the needy in these tough times.
Community Care Kitchen (CCK) has set up a COVID relief hotline, offering food and other essential services to help people in tough situations.
Rima Waizani the vice president of CCK, says she receives calls from hundreds who need help.
The members of Community Care Kitchen are responding to increasing requests from families in need. An all-female team of volunteers has been working around the clock to provide hot meals and essential items to people doing it tough in southwest Sydney as a result of the city’s lockdown: https://communitycarekitchen.org.au/
- Mass food prep instead of shutdown at Colombo Social
Colombo Social is a Sri Lankan restaurant with a difference. With the help of his mum’s recipes, owner Shaun Christie-David started Colombo Social as a way to share history and build connection through food. The social enterprise employs recently arrived asylum seekers and refugees.
- Market fresh produce thanks to Viral Kindness.
For elderly people or those who are socially isolated, fresh fruit and vegetables can be difficult to access. Lockdown made it harder for friends and neighbours to make drop offs and pushed organisations that usually help to capacity.
With the help of a group of volunteers Viral Kindness and Harris Farm get fresh produce out to those in need through trusted community groups and organisations. The program is using a City of Sydney venue in Waterloo as its distribution centre.
- Social enterprise Lentil as Anything is a pioneer in food relief, having operated on a pay-as-you-feel model for 20 years. Its Newtown restaurant quickly evolved its services. Lentil’s kitchen is preparing 1,000 vegan and halal meals a week. The restaurant is also opening its doors to rough sleepers as a place where they can wash their hands and charge their phone.
Lentil as Anything has partnered with St Georges Community Housing and St Vincent’s Homeless Health Service to deliver meals and offer ‘slow’ food, as well as long-life vacuum-packed takeaways
- The Gift of Bread food rescue organisation, which started in 2007, collects bread from more than 20 bakeries across the city, including Shepherd’s Artisan Bakehouse, Bakers Delight, Sonoma, Brooklyn Boy Bagels, Baalbek Bakery Canterbury, and bakeries at Coles and Woolworths, among others. Groups of volunteers get together in centres in Marrickville, Erskineville, Lewisham and Balmain.
- Zoo Fitness Penrith, Jason Lapin and his wife Tracey asked for help from their 4500 gym members and have been bombarded with offers of cash donations of boxes, cartons, pallets and hampers of food, water, cosmetics, sanitary products and manpower. Lapin said with his gym forced to close during lockdown, he and his community would continue to do what they could to fill the cracks these vulnerable people were falling into.
- Penrith Community Kitchen – Penrith Community Kitchen’s mission is to provide a warm, comfortable, friendly, relaxed environment where those that are in need can enjoy a free nourishing meal and the lonely can enjoy the company of others.https://www.penrithcommunitykitchen.com.au
- Jems Shabbat boxes with OBK – contact Our Big Kitchen to volunteer or to enquire about food relief: https://www.obk.org.au/
- Turbans for Australia – Turbans 4 Australia are helping people who cannot leave their homes or are struggling financially by providing them with nutritious hot meals and hampers containing staple grocery items. The majority of our help is requested and received by the elderly, disabled, and homeless human beings https://www.t4a.org.au/covid19-relief
- COA Sydney – COA members and others in the community who are doing it tough, or trying to keep COVID safe, are visited weekly by COA volunteers who deliver a mixed bag of fresh fruit and vegetables and other household items (toiletries, cleaning and sanitising products etc). Those who feel they need the service can call COA social workers or our volunteer coordinator on 9389 0035 to be included in delivery lists, and the service can be ended easily with a phone call.
List of food help and services from Waverley Council: https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/174301/Factsheet_-_Accessing_food_and_essential_services_July_2021.pdf
Food relief services across NSW: https://www.coronavirus.dcj.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/779166/Food-relief-services.pdf
Please contact your local council, community centre, temple, mosque, church or synagogue to find out what support is available in your local area.
