After a desperate fight to save themselves from financial ruin Griffith’s Carevan committee are clinging to life holding onto a raft of generous donations from the community.
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In December it appeared the mobile soup kitchen would no longer be able to continue its good work when a lack of funds left them with just six weeks up their sleeve.
It was a frightening thought for coordinator Cassandra Irvin who said even a decision to halve the meals provided and not give out take aways had been heartbreaking.
“That really scared me,” she said on Tuesday, explaining many of the children the service feeds rely on the meals to feed them in the days following a Carevan visit.
”To think that we wouldn’t be able to give them food to get them through the next few days was terrible.
“We hear stories from the children they would take the meals home and three of them would share one between them, what would they then do without that?”
Ms Irvin said the community’s immediate support upon hearing the mobile soup kitchen was in dire straits was ‘humbling’.
On Tuesday she picked up a generous donation from Rinaland, who immediately committed to supplying vegetables each week to Carevan when they heard of their struggle.
“Theirs was one of the first responses we got and it was a massive relief,” Ms Irvin said.
“Thinking of those kids who need those meals to take home my first thought when I heard of their donation was ‘hallelujah’.
“Most of our financial burden comes from buying groceries to make the meals we give out and we want to provide a nutritious meal which is hard to do if we can’t always afford vegetables.”
For Annette Grillo from Rinaland the decision had been a ‘no brainer’.
“I thought this is something we need to do,” she said, and father Ross threw his support behind her proposition.
“We thought what can we do to help, and what we can do every week is supply them all of their vegetables to keep them going,” he said.
Ms Irvin said the donations made would help Carevan to continue keeping its head above water into the near future.
“At this stage things look good and there is hope the Carevan will continue,” she said.
The Carevan committee continue to beg the community to donate $1 a week from their wages to help them purchase food.
Doante at Carevan Wage Donation Trust Account – Westpac BSB: 032 750 AN: 544 468.
