“Everyone is welcome at our table.”
At Foothills Community Care, that’s not just our beautiful mission statement; it runs through everything that we do.
We bring food and people together to create a place of welcome, of acceptance and of safety.
We cook meals using food from seven food-rescue partners (so it’s good for the planet, too), and everyone gets a healthy meal, plus dessert.
Then, there’s the produce line, where guests can pick up fresh fruit, veg, bread and eggs. The volunteers here really get to know people — they know who likes carrots but not apples, and who will always take Brussels sprouts.
They know who has access to cooking facilities and storage space. They know how many people are in each family, and who has dietary requirements. That influences the food they can take, but it also creates some beautiful connections that don’t happen in any other part of this program.
Each meal night serves about 70 sit-down attendees. With takeaways, we typically provide between 110 and 120 meals per night.
We get a whole variety of people coming along. People living in tents or cars; people with kids, struggling to make the bills that week; and people who live alone and want someone to talk to.
There’s no criteria to attend, you don’t have to justify yourself. Everyone is welcome, and everyone has a place, no matter who you are.
The beautiful thing about food is that it’s meant to be consumed with people around it. It brings us together, no matter what.
So, our community meal night is open to everyone in the community. Absolutely everyone. I can’t stress it enough: Everyone is welcome at our table.
– Drew Nicholls, Program Manager, Foothills Community Care
Come to a community meal night for:
A home-cooked, healthy main meal (dine in or takeaway)
Delicious dessert
Fresh fruit, veg and bread to take home
A safe and respectful space
Free laundry service (3.30pm – 5.30pm)
Doors are open:
Mondays, 4pm to 6pm, Upwey Baptist Church – Cnr Darling Ave & Burwood Hwy, 21 Darling Ave, Upwey.
Wednesdays, 4pm to 6pm, Ferntree Gully Girl Guides Hall, 165 Underwood Rd, Ferntree Gully.
