From left: Cornerstone Community Kitchen participant Marian Walczak, supervisor from Avocare Suzanne Van Rooy, and By Shaun Inguanzo
A GROUND-BREAKING program where Dandenong dole recipients prepare hundreds of fresh meals for the city’s poorest residents will receive national recognition from the Prime Minister next month.
The Cornerstone Community Kitchen sponsored by Avocare and overseen by Your Employment Solutions is a work for the dole initiative providing skills to dole recipients that will make them more employable.
But as Cornerstone Community Kitchen supervisor Suzanne Van Rooy explained to the Star, the benefits stretch beyond the program’s participants.
“The criteria of the program is that it must benefit the community and also the participants,” she said.
The team of up to 35 people prepare more than 300 meals each week to feed the 80 to 120 underprivileged people who visit Cornerstone twice a week for a meal.
In addition, extra meals are prepared for a similar food hall in Doveton called The Dove, and further meals for the Joey’s Van food van, and Hanover.
The program is now in its fourth year and has become a raging success, with participants finishing their six months of training with a food safety certificate.
Ms Van Rooy said the Cornerstone Community Kitchen had won a Prime Minister’s Work for the Dole Achievement Award to be presented by Senator Mitch Fifield at Cornerstone on Thursday, 6 September.
“I am very proud of what we’ve achieved,” Ms Van Rooy said.
“When it first began I had only worked in private enterprise so it was a bit of culture shock for me.
“In the beginning I thought I was terrible at supervising it and didn’t think it would go for this long.
“But we started to take on more agencies and now we’ve turned it into a four day project.”
“I think the program deserves to win the award but I am still in shock.”
Cornerstone CEO pastor Max Walker said the program was invaluable and helped Cornerstone achieve its objective of feeding people ‘on the fringe’ in Dandenong.
“It has taken a great load off Cornerstone’s volunteers because they (the participants) prepare excellent meals,” Mr Walker said. “Suzanne is doing a great job, she’s a good leader, a member of the board at Cornerstone, and she organises the program and runs it very well.”
