Wednesday, 1 November 2023

 Katie HALL (Footscray) (10:09): In Footscray our community comes together to make sure that no-one gets left behind, and I am honoured to acknowledge the amazing work of Randa and her group of volunteers who run Reaching Out in the Inner West of Melbourne, who I visited recently and who help those most in need in my community. When the group started in 2005 the selfless volunteers provided home-cooked meals, beverages, clothing, bedding and other essentials to around 20 people. They then began introducing open plate meals to bring people together. Reaching Out in the Inner West’s motto is ‘Love all, serve all. Help ever, hurt never’, and this was never truer than during the pandemic when they supplied 400 meals every Monday night to people in need. Now they regularly provide services to 300 people weekly and have in excess of 70 hardworking volunteers.

There are many great organisations I would like to acknowledge who are supporting Reaching Out in the Inner West. Their major supporters are VU Polytechnic; Bendigo Community Bank, Seddon; Aldi; IGA West Footscray; Le Mans Toyota; Cobb Lane bakery; Master Dry Cleaners; FareShare; Asahi; Mister Nice Guy’s Bakeshop; Knit4Charities; St Mary’s College, Windsor; Emmanuel College, Altona; Bakery Gallery Cafe; and two restaurants Dukkah and Casa Di Tutti. I would like to acknowledge all of the volunteers who work tirelessly to feed people in need in our community.