From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 19th September

 

Hi everyone!
‘Our Lady’s Kitchen’ Progress Report.
Well, Our Lady’s Kitchen (on our OLQP grounds) is almost on the verge of its “grand opening", and I am very excited about it, as I am sure many of you are as well. Already next Tuesday we will have our first “delivery service" to about 25 people who have been identified in urgent need of help. We wanted to start out small and see how we go, so we are beginning with just 25 people which are presently being helped by our St. Vinnies Gladesville branch. But we would be very happy to extend the service to more recipients in future months.The ‘recipients’ are people who are at the very edge of their physical, financial and human possibilities, and who basically have no one else to help them. They can be of any creed, race or orientation. All they need to qualify for our help is to be in circumstances of current substantial need and have no one else to help them. And even though ours is a fairly affluent area, there are still many people who have 'fallen through the cracks' and to whom Jesus and our Lady are directing us.

We are very grateful to those people who have already offered to help in this little ‘joint-venture', which is being run in partnership with two other very experienced charitable foundations: the St. Merkorious Charity and their 'industrial soup kitchen' and the Gift of Bread foundation which receives bread and other goods from bakeries on behalf of other charities.

The St. Merkorious Charity will be providing us with very good quality freshly cooked meals, which

we will then take out and deliver twice weekly, along with a delivery of bread and 'snack packs’ courtesy of our other friends at the Gift of Bread foundation, to whom we are indebted for their kindness, food preparation expertise and utter generosity.

                                                                 Photo at St Merkorious Charity

We are very grateful for the enthusiastic support of the teams of volunteers who already man both the Vinnies ‘Night Patrol' run by our Gladesville St. Vinnies, and the Roselle Vinnies food delivery service, in which I am one of their drivers and volunteers. But many others have offered themselves to do the deliveries of late. The fact that Gladesville Vinnies has been doing similar services in other areas of our city over the last decade or so, and have an ongoing contingent of trained volunteers and organizational expertise in this specific field is one of the reasons why we have been able to get this service up and running so quickly.

The Parish will host the operations, specifically out of our OLQP site, will look after the management and maintenance of the installations and equipment needed, and provide our own unique 'HR catchment area' of volunteers and benefactors. This will, understandably, require an ongoing contingent of volunteers at every level of the service, and benefactors to keep the operations rolling on.

That will involve picking up the food and snacks on offer, ensuring their safe and hygienic transportation and storage, - overnight if necessary - until they reach their destinations and are handed over gratuitously to our needy neighbourhood friends.

I am also very grateful to a handful of very generous donors who have made it possible to adapt the kitchen and toilet facilities at OLQP Hall over the past three weeks, which has been a minor marathon in itself and is almost complete.

And to our RGCP ‘maintenance man’, Keith Stanshall, of Bedrock Maintenance, who has worked way beyond the call of duty to get this done in such a short time frame. Our thanks as well to our electrician, Brandon, our plumber Dave, and our kitchen installer Achilles, who have also donated time, talent, connections and expertise to make the renovations a reality.

So then, if

1. you personally know of anyone who is doing it tough and might need this service,
2. you want to be a volunteer to help out with the transport of the food and the deliveries
3. your company or business can provide snacks, drinks, basic foodstuffs, petrol vouchers, food containers or whatever
4. you would like to help finance the joint venture and its ‘partners in charity’,

Then please take note of the following email address (olk@rgcp.org.au) and the following bank account details of our 'RGCP Fundraising Account", mentioning that it is for “Our Lady’s Kitchen’ to help finance the service. Tax deductibility is available on some parts of the supply line for our recipients:

BSB: 062-784
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 10000 9813

We will confidentially get back to you, and help you to help us as best as we can with this beautiful work of Our Lady, Mary, Help of the Helpless, and Queen of Peace.

Your brother, in Christ's tireless service to all,

Fr. Greg