The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on so many people, but particularly on the most vulnerable in our society.

But struck with a desire to do something, volunteers from the Orange Uniting Church have been busy distributing hot, home-cooked meals to give a helping hand to those in need.

“When the COVID-19 problem came to, us we sat down and talked about how we were going to operate and plan for this next period of time, but one of the things we talked about was who else is suffering? And who else is going to be battling? We talked about people who might lose their jobs and so we decided to embark on this program” said Bob Nash, Chairperson of the Orange Uniting Church Council.

The church has long been involved in food outreach programs, although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to cease serving their regular Wednesday lunches. Social distancing requirements have also shut down similar programs run by other organisations, which is why Bob said the church decided to step up and do something.

“When COVID came, some of the other organisations that have done that sort of thing for a while weren’t able to continue, because it was done by elderly volunteers,” he said.

“So, it is just a little niche that the Orange United Church has filled and it’s growing all the time. We are seeing homeless people, we're seeing young families who have lost their jobs, we're seeing elderly people who are struggling to cook, a whole variety of people who have need.”

For the past two months, church volunteers have been cooking hot meals which are distributed free of charge from the Anson Street church hall between 5pm and 6pm on Saturdays. The food is distributed in takeaway containers with everyone observing social distancing requirements.

“We have a group a core group of people who will cook up enough food for up to 50 people and then we gather on Saturday afternoon and put it all together and distribute some decent home-cooked food,” said Bob.

“And we have a good store of frozen meals, so if a family turns up, we might give them four or five hot meals and four or five frozen meals.

Along with the free meals, the church also has a small selection of fruit, bread and other grocery items that people can take with them.

“There is no cost, it is totally being funded by generous donations by members of our congregation and some people outside of the congregation. And in the last month or so we've had people give us warm clothing, jackets and jumpers and blankets and people who knit and crochet items to give away,” said Bob.

“And if anybody might be sleeping out and truly suffering, we also have a couple of swags that we make available, something they can use on a short-term basis.”

While the program has so far been supported by the volunteers, the church was recently given a generous donation from Newcrest Cadia Valley Operations community partnerships program that will allow them to grow the program.

“Cadia have very generously included our community program in their plans and that will be sufficient money for us to be able to not only step up the quality and amount of food that we give, but it means that we can continue to operate right through until Christmas,” said Bob.

“It has proven to us that there is a real need in our community for it, so we are now making plan as to how we can do it a little bit better, improve things. We are very pleased that we are able to fill this little gap for however long, to the end of the year and maybe beyond.”