By Cam Lucadou-Wells
There is such a thing as a free lunch.
A Dandenong eatery The Mango Tree is giving away 300 lunch packs every Wednesday for stranded international students without income.
Many of the students have lost their jobs due the Covid-19 pandemic but are ruled ineligible for government welfare programs, including the $130 billion Jobkeeper package.
Normally, The Mango Tree is shut on Wednesdays. But in a great act of generosity, it has opened its kitchens on its day off, serving up free vegetarian and non-vegetarian curries and dahls for the students.
Staff member Rajeev Elangeswaran said restaurant staff had noticed many of its regular international-student diners were doing it tough.
“We heard what was happening on the news, and we talked about what we can do to help.
“We decided to open on Wednesday just for the students.”
Praise has flooded on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
A poster wrote: “You are great. What the community fails to do you are doing.”
The Mango Tree has been cooking up Sri Lankan and Indian curries in Clow Street, Dandenong for more than nine years.
The lunch pack giveaway is on Wednesdays, 12pm-3pm.
