Hello dear friends
Here we go again, roller-coasting back into lockdown! At least we have some experience under our
belt this time around…
Prior to the lockdown the committee made up of representatives from the consortium of clubs
(Hawthorn, Malvern, Port Melbourne, Albert Park and Melbourne South) in support of the Alfred
Hospital Mental Health Unit (MHU) Care Packs project had our first meeting and combined that with
a packing morning.
Approximately 150 Care Packs were put together with all the necessary items
and a few additional treats such as beautiful body lotions and shaving foam. Having achieved such a
good stock of packs before lockdown has been a great relief. We had exhausted stocks of lip balm
and deodorant but in the following week Sylvie Berchick committee member from Rotary Prahran
had sourced lip balm and emery boards, track suits, tee shirts for MHU and several hundred pairs
overalls destined for DIK.
On Fridays I volunteer with Rotary Prahran, who partner with Uniting Services, Chapel St and Second
Bite to deliver weekly food bags to numerous Homeless Shelters around the Greater Melbourne
area.
Our continued support for the Empower Community Food Bank on City Rd is greatly appreciated.
Every time John and I visit we are shown through the pantry we are impressed by the kindness and
dignity shown to all pantry users. In addition to the month financial donation we are able to donate
goods from DIK. The most recent donation from DIK was 3 large cartons of reusable shopping bags. A
saving of $0.50 per bag to purchase. The pantry continues to support 2000 plus people around
Melbourne per week. Like many of the Community Food Pantry’s in our area they continue to
struggle to receive sufficient donations of the basic staples, rice and pasta which often have to be purchased to ensure enough is on hand.
and a few additional treats such as beautiful body lotions and shaving foam. Having achieved such a
good stock of packs before lockdown has been a great relief. We had exhausted stocks of lip balm
and deodorant but in the following week Sylvie Berchick committee member from Rotary Prahran
had sourced lip balm and emery boards, track suits, tee shirts for MHU and several hundred pairs
overalls destined for DIK.
On Fridays I volunteer with Rotary Prahran, who partner with Uniting Services, Chapel St and Second
Bite to deliver weekly food bags to numerous Homeless Shelters around the Greater Melbourne
area.
Our continued support for the Empower Community Food Bank on City Rd is greatly appreciated.
Every time John and I visit we are shown through the pantry we are impressed by the kindness and
dignity shown to all pantry users. In addition to the month financial donation we are able to donate
goods from DIK. The most recent donation from DIK was 3 large cartons of reusable shopping bags. A
saving of $0.50 per bag to purchase. The pantry continues to support 2000 plus people around
Melbourne per week. Like many of the Community Food Pantry’s in our area they continue to
struggle to receive sufficient donations of the basic staples, rice and pasta which often have to be purchased to ensure enough is on hand.
The MHU team