THE Christian Emergency Food Centre has been a source of relief for many families in the Wimmera.
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It was in 1998 when the centre in Horsham opened its doors, spearheaded by the 10 churches involved in the Horsham Christian Ministers’ Association.
The centre was originally located in the former Wimmera Shire Council building on Firebrace Street, Horsham. But it was not long after that the organisation outgrew the space and moved to its current location at 28 Firebrace Street.
Since then the group has expanded further, adding extensions to its office to accommodate the ever-growing services and demand.
Today, the organisation celebrates 20 years of helping its community through challenging times.
Helping people in times of need
Christian Emergency Food Centre client assessment manager Bev Miatke said the organisation has never been short on supplies, even when the demand was high.
The Wimmera community has faced tough times since the food centre opened. For over a decade, the region was affected by drought.
Mrs Miatke said the drought had impacted the community greatly and the food centre was there to alleviate the burden. However, she said the most challenging task over the past 20 years was urging the farmers to accept the help available.
“We are so thankful to have a supportive community because when we were in drought we were not short of food – we had food coming from all over the state,” she said. “There was thousands of dollars worth donated.
“The difficultly we had was getting the farmers to accept the help. Even though we were seriously in drought for about 13 years, it took them a long time to accept help.
“They were very proud people but the drought got so bad they had to ask for help, and we were there.”
Mrs Miatke said the community needed to know that there were people who cared about them and would be there when times were tough.
It's a hard thing for people to ask for help, but we are here to make sure they get the help when they are ready
- Bev Miatke
”We have plenty of food to give away and they won’t be turned away,” she said.
“It is a hard thing for people to ask for help, but we are here to make sure they get the help they need when they are ready.”
Moving forward in leaps and bounds to fill the gaps
The food centre has grown leaps and bounds in its two-decade history. The organisation first started by providing food to Horsham and the surrounding areas, but now covers the entire Wimmera.
Mrs Miatke said the organisation planned to expand further and offer new avenues of services for the community.
“We started a beautiful women program this year, where we go back to the basics in a relationship – teaching women about valuing themselves and other skills so people stuck in low socioeconomic and bad relationships can make the necessary changes in their lives,” she said.
“In the future we are wanting to expand that program. It’s a whole new avenue that the food centre has not been down before.”
However Mrs Miatke said the centre’s core business would always be food.
“We have different avenues, but food is our core,” she said. “It is the basic need that people have. It will always be our focus into the future.”
Helping hand for people in need
Volunteers are the backbone of the Wimmera’s Christian Emergency Food Centre.
From the 65 people on the roster, 10 have been involved since its inaugural days.
Horsham's Florence Webb said she merely wanted to help people in need. She recalled a memory during the drought when a farmer came to the food centre over the Christmas period.
“He said they were not telling the children – they were only young – about Christmas that year because they couldn't buy presents or cook a special meal," she said. “We were able to give them a Christmas hamper for a special meal and sent them to Salvos to buy presents for the children.
“Those people were touched forever because they didn’t think that could happen."
It was moments like this that motivated Ms Webb to volunteer at the food centre. On average, the organisation helps 12 people each day, but Mrs Webb said those clients could have up to six children.
Those people were touched forever because they didn’t think that could happen.
- Florence Webb
“The children keep me motivated, that's all I care about. They shouldn’t have to go without," she said.
Ms Webb said the community's kindness had also been a constant source of motivation.
“It makes me very proud to live in this community," she said. "When (the food centre) started, I was one of the committee members and I would approach businesses and never got a refusal. Everyone was willing to give us donations.
"The Horsham community was wonderful in supplying us with food."
Horsham's Anne Mahony is also one of the food centre’s founding volunteers. She was new to Horsham when she became involved in the idea.
"I thought it was a chance to get to know more people and that's when I found out what the idea was and how brilliant it was," she said.
"There are many people in our community who are hurting – single people, people with disabilities who can't do anything about their situation – but we've been doing something and from there it's just blossoming."
Ms Mahony said the region experienced a "terrible drought" soon after the centre opened. She was proud the community helped the organisation meet demand.
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