April 10, 2020
Feeding our city in crisis By Luke Voogt
Nicole Riddle. (Rebecca Hosking) 207301_06
Ms Riddle explained that the group had increased its operations ater some local charities were forced to close because of the pandemic – many of them had elderly volunteers who were at risk of catching coronavirus, while others lacked space to operate while maintaining social distancing. One Care had encouraged its elderly volunteers to stay at home but most of them were “young and healthy”, she said. Ms Riddle said she had taken precautions to protect herself, her two daughters and husband from the coronavirus but refused to “live in fear”. “I’m it and I’m healthy – I know I need to keep on doing this and that’s a risk I’m willing to take. he positive impact I can have far outweighs the risk.” For information about food programs during the pandemic visit: feedgeelong. org.au or onecaregeelong.org.au
(Rebecca Hosking) 207302_18
A Geelong West group is serving almost 10 times its normal number of meals to those in need, according to the program’s co-ordinator. “We’ve had to completely reshape everything that we’ve been doing,” One Care’s community meal co-ordinator Nicole Riddle said. “By the end of this week we will have done 1500 meals in the past two-and-a-half weeks. We normally do 70 a week.” he Hamlyn Heights mother-of-two and former teacher began working for One Care last year, running a community kitchen with disadvantaged people and a weekly community meal. But as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced several local charities to close, One Care’s core group of about 20 volunteers are running an extra community meal each week and ofering ‘pantry parcels’. Another 20 volunteers have signed up to deliver meals to those in need. One Care had also moved its cooking operations to a larger commercial kitchen at the ailiated OneHope Baptist Church to cope with demand, Ms Riddle said. he 37-year-old was in the middle of preparing another 120 meals when she spoke to the Independent on Tuesday. “It’s a crazy time at the moment,” she said. “I just had a lovely lady drop of homemade slices so we’re going to be distributing them today too.”
Egg-cellent fun still to be had Leo, 8, Piper, 3, and Patrick, 6, hopped into the Easter spirit on Monday by sampling some of Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie’s delicious creations. While the COVID-19 crisis has hit the business hard, forcing owners Ian and Leanne Neeland to lay off 65 “hardworking and devoted” staff, the business had adapted to ‘click and collect’ orders and deliveries during what would normally be its busiest time of the year. The chocolaterie was sending out more than 100 orders to “loyal customers” and many planned tour groups had “very kindly” accepted vouchers instead of refunds, Mrs Neeland said. “We’re just overwhelmed with their support.”
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