Client prepares mouth-watering meals from donated food

St Johns Care (SJC) is a special place in Canberra providing refuge and support for people who have day to day challenges in their lives. All the people who attend the Centre are treated with compassion and respect.

We provide support and understanding, including food that has been kindly donated by the community or from Oz Harvest. Oz Harvest is Australia’s leading food rescue organisation, collecting quality excess food from commercial outlets and delivering it directly to more than 1300 charities that support people in need.

One visitor to SJC, who we shall call Susan, comes into the Centre when she requires some assistance with groceries. Susan hit hard times a few years ago because of domestic issues and went from being a confident working mother with 4 children to someone who suffers from high anxiety and is currently unable to work.

Over the past few months I have been working with Susan to help build her self-esteem and self-worth. She is gradually improving her outlook on life and belief in herself.

Last week Susan came into the Centre and told me that she had started taking photos of the meals she prepared with the food from SJC.

She sent me the photos and explained that she used every bit of food she received to make a shepherd’s pie and salad, roast chicken with spice mix and chicken with stuffing, roast pumpkin and potatoes.

The very fact that Susan is cooking meals for her family is indicative of the progress she has made in her journey to regain her confidence. She told me on her last visit that she was considering applying for a job which is something we had been working towards.

Susan asked me to share her photos so that people could see what can be created with the wonderful food donations to SJC.

Items Requited/Wish list: biscuits, tinned tomatoes, children’s toothbrushes.

Kind Regards,

Steph Stephens - Community Worker

Photo: A meal prepared by Susan for her family with food from SJC.