Grenfell Food Hall Report for December, 2024.

Another year has almost gone and the Food Hall is thriving. During the cold winter our customers have still come almost every week and a large number of them stayed for morning tea and a chat. Thank you to all our customers for your great support.

We have helped a large number of people with the emergency hampers and vouchers and it’s clear to see the ‘cost of living’ is biting into everyone’s budget.

Some of our customers have experienced some sad times while others keep on coping with their everyday concerns. We pray for God to comfort and strengthen them all when life appears difficult.

Our customer numbers on Fridays have increased and we are now seeing at least 110 plus their partners, friends and children come in every Friday which can total around 130 plus every Friday. This is great to see as the Food Hall is serving people within the Weddin Shire [and beyond] well.

We have also assisted Trungley Hall to set up their own Food Hall. This will be well needed in that district.

With our finances going well, we continue to donate to many services and groups within our area. Some of these groups are-

Grenfell Hospital Auxiliary, Far West Children’s Service, both the public and Catholic schools, the Grenfell Country Education Foundation, the Christmas Boxes for Samaritan Purse and other Groups. It is a privilege that we can help our Community.

Last month, we hosted the Breast Cancer Barbecue Breakfast organised by Amanda from Community Transport, which was a great success.

We also contributed to the Services Day and Barbecue in Taylor Park organised by Elly at Community Health and the Weddin Shire Council and we have contributed to the Salvo’s Services Day held near the TAFE building and organised by Jodie at the Salvo’s.

We have given donations to Karen Stuttle who provides meals to people in Grenfell. We continually help with food to Kids Club and Holiday Kids Club at the Uniting Church and giving donations to other Community Groups through-out the year and it’s a delight to be able to work in with all these groups making life a little easier for everyone. We attend the monthly Interagency meeting which helps organise the various groups that come to Grenfell to assist people in our district.

There’s a lot of assistance available to people in the Weddin Shire but it’s difficult getting it known to the ones who need it.

We plan to continue our work and assist anyone who needs a little help. It is sad at times to hear that someone is homeless or struggling and yet, we can’t reach out to them as we don’t know or did not know at that time.

It is a great help to have the Salvo’s also helping those in need and together, we can make a difference when their life and struggles gets overwhelming.

Our Volunteers [as usual] have worked very hard this year as we have more stock coming in each week now and without each one of them, we would struggle. They all go “out of their way’’ to have the Food Hall running smoothly and ready for Fridays.

We are delighted to welcome Paul, a new Volunteer Member to our Wednesday and Fridays.

There are many people to thank who work tirelessly for the Food Hall.

All our wonderful Volunteers [and I’m sure you are looking forward to having a spell over the Christmas period] thank you to every one of you for a great effort all year.

Our Volunteers are –

Gina, Helen, David, Cathy, Brett, Joalee, Alex, Allen, Jenny, Anita, Marg, Chris and Dennis, Paul, Tony and Pauline. We certainly have a great team who work so well.

I’d like to thank our cooks, Eunice, Glenice, Dorothy and Chris, who do a great job cooking the cakes and slices and for Chris and Anita for the sandwiches.

Also a big thank you to Alan Stokes who also makes sandwiches for us at times.. and for Dennis doing all the washing up every Friday. A great job from everybody.

We have had more food pallets than Peter can bring over, so a big thank-you to Allen who goes over most weeks to collect the extra pallets and to Phillip and Dennis who also helps.

There are a number of people who work behind the scenes and work extra hours and days when needed. Thank you.

For Gina, who does the ordering – it’s a tremendous task and thank you doesn’t seem enough and for David and Helen doing the finances and they do an extraordinary job each week – thank you so much.

It was wonderful to see Ross Craven again, now retired and living here in Grenfell. Everyone will be able to catch up with him next year as I’m sure he will be a regular each week.

We may hold a few more functions next year at the Food Hall to raise money for

various Groups as it is a good meeting place for breakfast barbecues etc.

We couldn’t do any of this without our Lord’s help and I am so thankful. I pray that the Food Hall can continue to thrive and assist everyone.

Many thanks, Joan. God bless.

Joan Cations – Manager of Grenfell Uniting Church Food Hall.

The Food Hall will close at 11am on December 20 and will re-open on Friday, January 24, 2025.

Wishing everyone a very happy and blessed Christmas and a good rest before we start all over again!