Shared Table helps provide Christmas cheer

It was a heart-warming sight to see people flock to Narrabri’s Shared Table Community Kitchen at the Presbyterian Church Hall on Friday, December 17.

The Christmas spirit of giving was on everyone’s mind.

Plenty of food, including non-perishables, fresh produce, and kindly donated specially made colourful cotton bags full of toys were on offer.

The arrival of a trailer full of Christmas hamper boxes, purchased by Shared Table from Food Bank in Sydney, were also available on a pre-order basis.

Foodbank is Australia’s largest food relief organisation, operating on a scale that makes it crucial to the work of the front-line charities who are feeding vulnerable Australians.

Foodbank provides more than 70 per cent of the food rescued for food relief organisations nationwide.

Earlier in the week, OzHarvest Mobile Markets purchased fruit and vegetables from Paradise Fresh, Narrabri.

This produce was distributed to towns and villages in the shire.

The Shared Table volunteers also use their share of the produce to put together their own Christmas hampers.

OzHarvest collects surplus fresh food donated directly from hundreds of stores across the nation and distributes food, free of charge, to over 1400 charities across Australia.

The Mobile Market service works in collaboration with Narrabri’s Shared Table at this special time of the year when families may be doing it tougher than usual.

Shared Table organiser Joan Griffiths was delighted with the response from volunteers and the community who arrived up on Friday to receive their hampers and goodies.