FareShare meals are boosting morale as well as energy for international students in crisis in Melbourne.
Our latest meal drop to the Kindness Community Group included special treats to lift spirits.
“We had so much feedback from the students saying it was delicioussssss!” said volunteer Angela Valansi who coordinates emergency food relief for students who have lost their jobs, are not eligible for financial support and can’t return home.
“The dessert was the comfort food for many this week! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
“It was sad to see so many people in need after the second lockdown. Heartbreaking.”
With Melbourne’s tougher COVID restrictions this week, the group had to deliver meals to students who would normally collect them from a Fitzroy church.
“We would never let the students down,” said Angela. “We had cars and vans covering different areas delivering food for people who could not go to the church because of the 5km limit. It was a long, hard and exhausting day but it was worth it!
“We heard that the banana bread and orange cake was the best of their lives. Some of them never had sticky date, apple crumble or rhubarb cake and they loved it.”
Compliments from the students, who mainly come from South America, have also bolstered our chefs. One student described a FareShare pasta dish as “absurdly delicious.”
Kitchen manager Crickette DerJeu said, “It warms the chefs’ hearts to know the love they put into the food we cook is appreciated.”
FareShare is also providing up to 10,000 meals a week for overseas students at Monash, Melbourne and CQ universities through SecondBite, as well as hundreds of meals a week to Empower food relief centres which feed vulnerable visa workers. Those who have lost work can also collect FareShare meals from Gelato Messina’s West Brunswick pop-up outlet.
In Queensland, FareShare has cooked around 140,000 meals to support international students including 2,200 this week for those doing it tough in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
