Nourishing Our Community
In November last year, CWA Nimbin Branch were worthy recipients of an NRCF Local Impact Community Grant for their project ‘Nourishing Our Community’.
This active CWA branch provides meals for people experiencing homelessness, aged community members and also caters large community events such as the Nimbin Show and NAIDOC Day. They also have the vital role of feeding emergency services workers during disasters.
During the 2019/20 bushfires, members of the CWA Nimbin branch jumped into action to provide meals for up to 200 firefighters and defenders daily. Again, during the devastating 2022 floods and its aftermath they were called upon to make meals for elderly and vulnerable people who Meals on Wheels could not reach do to flooded roads and landslips.
The kitchen they were using was not sufficiently equipped to cater for all this and an NRCF Community grant enabled them to implement a much-needed kitchen upgrade to continue this important role in the Nimbin community.
Wasting no time, the renovations were completed over the summer holidays where they installed a 900mm Commercial cooktop and oven, a 2100 x 600cm stainless steel preparation bench and three large cooking pots to increase both capacity and ease of preparing nutritious and nourishing meals for their community.
Sandi Hill, secretary of CWA Nimbin shared her feelings on the outcome of the renovations.
“Whilst we have not yet, thankfully, had to cater for disaster/ emergency situations since installation, we are grateful that we will be better prepared in future thanks to this new equipment.
We are also now able to cook jams, chutneys and relishes in bulk in our room, to sell on our stalls to raise funds as well as cook low-cost meals on our open days.”
If you are passionate about supporting your local community, an EOFY donation to our General Giving Fund, however small, ensures the NRCF can continue to support projects just like this one.
And, if you are a local community organisation with a project to benefit the Northern Rivers, stay tuned as our NRCF Annual Community Grants round will be opening on 2 September 2024.