We have been changing lives for 2 years now, but we have never been closer to our members than in the past 12 months. When COVID- threat started last year, many of the business around us decided to cease operations temporarily. For us, the decision was a bit harder! We wanted to keep our volunteers and staff members safe, but we all knew our members relied on us to make ends of the week. We unanimously decided to keep serving the most vulnerable in our community, but we never thought we were putting ourselves on a roller coaster of emotions, challenges, and growth.
The raisin number of members in need, the constant fear of getting infected and the lack of human resources, made our volunteers’ team the real heroes. We went from distributing 300 kg of rescued food per week to 4.5 tones, serving a monthly average of 10,000 meals to marginalised individuals from all places in Sydney. We ended up supporting Pop-up pantries and keep getting calls from people located 25 km away from the centre. There is when the real question raised – are we doing enough to keep everyone safe? If they do not have enough money to pay for groceries, how can we ensure that they are paying enough attention to their hygienic and so, complying with all preventive COVID-procedures?
Good 360 and SC Johnson heard all our worries and concerns. As always, they were there for us and our members! With their contribution of surface cleaners, body wash and anti-bacterial kitchen cleaner we could help our members to stay safe. We also ensure our ongoing services, without compromising the health or safety of any of our stakeholders´ groups. Overall, the impact of your contribution went beyond the units provided, and there are not enough words to express our gratitude for helping us to be there for our clients.
