Mel Sheppard recently reached out to our Club asking for assistance from members

"We have recently launched an initiative with the purpose of supporting vulnerable communities around Victoria. 

Myself, along with a team of volunteers, are working with vulnerable communities that are facing immense hardship. We have pulled on all of our resources to gather donated food items, games/books/toys for children, warm clothes and every Friday we take these items out to the communities which include the commission towers that are currently tier 1 and 2, Africause in the western suburbs, Sacred Heart Mission, the township of Shepparton, Frankston community centre, City of Port Phillip Food Share to name a few. We go to places most others don’t as you can see in the image below from last weeks delivery. We deliver straight to the people each week and Gerry, I can’t even put into words the things we have seen and stories we have heard, it’s like a developing nation

In order to keep supporting these communities, we have set up a program through the Grocer chain of supermarkets whereby people can purchase $20 packs of non-perishable items online, (see below link). This is a non-profit venture that the Grocer has generously agreed to partner with us in order to help bridge the gap. These packs are filled with basic food items such as rice, pasta, tuna, tomatoes, Weet-bix, UHT milk, oil and flour. They are processed and delivered by us each Friday. This new system has allowed us to provide a covid-safe, economical way for people to contribute and can all be done online with no need to visit the store or collect.

We have been running this particular programme now for 4 weeks purely from our own networks, but we need to go broader. The demand is not only going to continue but is getting worse and more vulnerable communities are now locked down without any resources. I feel a personal obligation as these people have nowhere else to turn to at the moment. There are language barriers, extreme poverty, pride, mental health, disability, accessibility; a whole gauntlet of barriers standing in their way to receiving support."

Help by purchasing a care pack for $20  here

Further details about Igniting Change https://www.ignitingchange.org.au/

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