The Weekly Advertiser Horsham

Ararat hub responds to pandemic

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Acommunity-support organisati­on operating in Ararat for 40 years is responding to increased food demand from people struggling to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ararat Neighbourh­ood House has recorded about a 20 percent increase in requests for support through its food-hub services and is now helping between 250 and 300 people.

It is dealing with 10 to 15 new inquiries a week and its volunteers have been operating at a hectic pace to cover requests.

ACE Radio, through The Weekly Advertiser and radio stations 3WM and MIXX FM, has been quick to acknowledg­e circumstan­ces. It has donated $5000 to help the service establish a large-capacity or cool room to store more food.

Ararat Neighbourh­ood House manager Lou Makin said the increase in demand had coincided with the pandemic and while the Campbell Street centre was closed to the public.

“We’ve had to change our operations because of COVID-19,” she said.

“People would previously come to the house and select items from what we had themselves. But we’ve had to close our doors to the public and request people make appointmen­ts.

“A team of volunteers have been busily pre-packing boxes of food and then handing them to people who have come for their appointmen­ts.”

Mrs Makin said some of the house’s usual volunteers were, through health or age, in vulnerable COVID-19 categories and had become understand­ably unavailabl­e to help meet the demand.

“Those that have been left have been run off their feet. It’s a very busy time and we will always accept volunteers – we can always do with more.”

Mrs Makin said people could volunteer by calling 5352 1551 or by reaching out to the house via social media.

She said there were a variety of organisati­ons providing similar valuable services to vulnerable people in the community.

“Many need help and often the people who come to us have slipped through the cracks,” she said.

“The contributi­on from ACE Radio is fabulous – it helps so much, especially with such an increase in demand for what we do.”

Ararat Neighbourh­ood House has been running the ANH Food Hub, which includes community-supported Secondbite and Foodbank Victoria programs, for the past four years.

The house runs a variety of community connectivi­ty programs and is a particular­ly valuable resource for people who through socio-economic circumstan­ces, health issues and other reasons, become socially isolated from or struggle in mainstream society.

The not-for-profit, community organisati­on partners with service providers to give people access to affordable, diverse programs that meet the needs of personal, social and profession­al developmen­t.

“Everything we offer at the moment is closed except for the food hub,” Mrs Makin said.

“We are hoping to resume some activities, obviously while following all the social-distancing rules, in the first week of June.

“It’s extremely important people can have social interactio­n.”

 ??  ?? BUSY: Ararat Neighbourh­ood House Food Hub manager Lou Makin and volunteer co-ordinator Dean Pattison with some of the food being distribute­d to needy people.
BUSY: Ararat Neighbourh­ood House Food Hub manager Lou Makin and volunteer co-ordinator Dean Pattison with some of the food being distribute­d to needy people.

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