By Renee Wood
Father’s House Church in Healesville is now operating a food relief van on Monday nights in order to provide locals who’re doing it tough with a hot meal and essential food and laundry items.
This is an extension of the church’s food relief boxes which first started during the pandemic.
Pastor James Hewitt said the church recognised there was a lot of isolation, a lot of need and a lot of people who were losing their jobs.
“We came up with a concept of providing short term food relief boxes very similar to an Hello Fresh type of boxes recipe card, which was delivered for free and are free to people who needed help during those Covid seasons,” he said.
The church provided nearly $20,000 worth of food into the Healesville area and the need is still ongoing.
Now the church is providing its food relief boxes alongside a hot weekly meal through a new van which will be parked outside the Church on Symons Street on Monday nights.
Laundry boxes will also be available through the van with expensive laundry and hygiene items commonly cut from the budget in times of need.
The laundry items have been donated by a business in the city and other goods that are in the food boxes are also donated by local businesses.
Pastor Hewitt said it’s great to get support.
“We’ve got local people in the community of the Healesville area who are financially giving every week into the food van in order to pay for meals in order to feed people.
“So this isn’t just necessarily a church initiative… we’ve now got getting local businesses and people who are financially giving to enable us to do that.”
Pastor Hewitt said it’s important for the community to know they don’t conduct a means test in order to give support to anyone who needs it in the community, as many from all different backgrounds are doing it tough.
“We have to see what’s happening in the streets of our communities around us, you know there are real people in need and there are people who are doing it tough.”
The food van operates Monday nights at 11 Symons Street, Healesville, 3777
