Millgrove Community Kitchen project members (left to right) Laima and Herbert Stnik, Sue Spenceley, Yvonne Shalevski, Margaret Donoghey and Russell Adams have been cooking up a storm at the Millgrove Baptist Church.By Dion Teasdale
MILLGROVE’S Community Kitchen project has been hailed a success and there are plans to expand the initiative in the new year.
The community kitchen project, which evolved out of a community learning branch of the Millgrove Residents’ Action Group (MRAG), was kicked off in August.
For the last three months the project has successfully run a weekly cooking group for Upper Yarra residents at the Millgrove Baptist Church.
The project has also attracted interest from other welfare agencies, and financial support in the form of a $1,500 grant from the Warburton Community Bank.
One of the project coordinators, Reverend Luke Whiteside from the Millgrove Baptist Church, said the initiative was about building stronger communities through socialising around food.
“Primarily what we’ve done is get together a group of people to socialise around the kitchen while preparing meals,” he said.
“It about community building in a learning environment that revolves around food and nutrition.”
Rev Whiteside said the group had attracted people from all walks of life, from people in their mid 20s through to community members in their 80s.
“Some people have come along because they want to do something to help others in the community, and other people have come along because they enjoy the social contact,” Rev Whiteside said.
He said the grant from the Warburton Community Bank had helped the group purchase cooking utensils and kitchen equipment, meaning group members only had to contribute to the cost of meals.
“Participants contribute each week by helping to pay for ingredients and it’s very cost effective. It works out to be about $2 per meal, per serve,” he said.
Rev Whiteside said the response from the community had been so positive that the project coordinators were looking at establishing a second and possibly a third group next year.
“We are looking at starting up more groups next year, possibly during the day time, so anyone interested in participating should get in touch with us,” he said.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the Millgrove Community Meals project can phone Luke Whiteside on 5966 2967 or Bernadette Douglas on 0418 572 179.
