Help Carevan by donating non-perishables to provide 600 weekly meals for the needy

The Cans For Carevan drive has returned to help the community’s most vulnerable members cope with the high cost of living.

Wagga Wagga Marketplace and Carevan Wagga Wagga have launched a joint community-focused campaign inspired by last year’s Cans For Carevan drive.

The Carevan project seeks to address homelessness, disadvantage, social isolation and food insecurity in Wagga.

“We make 600 meals a week, and we need lots of ingredients,” said Carevan Wagga president David Brennan.

“We are asking people to give us cooking ingredients in cans or non-perishable items such as rice or pasta that we could use to make meals.

“It really helps with our budget.”

“It is a community-based initiative, and everything we do stays in Wagga.”

David said Carevan was limited in the number of cooking teams it could have, but the meal demand was huge around Wagga.

“We know there is a huge demand for our meals, and we know that they are not meeting the demand,” he said.

David said that while there was plenty of conversation about the high cost of living, many people were always struggling.

“There is no doubt that any organisation such as Salvos, Vinnies, services providers and us are helping people survive,” he said.

“We don’t want people going hungry, but we also want to give people hope, and anything we do makes people feel as though someone cares.”

People can donate new personal hygiene and self-care products, individually wrapped nutritional protein or breakfast bars, and non-perishable goods.

In addition to non-perishable items for the Carevan kitchen, the team is also seeking donations of the following items for individual care packs: soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, Band-Aids, deodorant, hand sanitiser, lip balm, and socks.

Marketplace community marketing manager Chloe Sutton said the shopping centre would make hamper packs with personal care items to deliver to the most vulnerable.

“We’re building little packs this year to help ease the cost of living,” Chloe said.

“We will have toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and sanitary items to help our vulnerable community members get through these tough times.”

The Marketplace will top up any donations at the end of the drive to ensure that at least 150 packs of equitable value are ready to distribute in September.

“If people have a large donation that doesn’t fit in the donation box, they can deliver it straight to our centre management,” Chloe said.

“If people want to make cash or fresh-food donations, they can go to the Carevan kitchen on Fernleigh Road in Glenfield Park.”

Donations can be made at the Wagga Marketplace collection point between The Body Shop and Prouds until 31 August.

During the first week of September, Carevan volunteers will distribute the care packs to people when they visit the community kitchen for a hot meal.