THE Grain Shed Church of Christ was a hive of activity yesterday as community groups came together to pack 800 hampers full of essentials as the Christmas season approaches.
More than 30 volunteers gathered between 10am and 1pm, setting up a production line that Henry Ford would have been proud of.
Trucks packed with dry goods, such as pasta, long life milk, biscuits, noodles and many other items, came and went throughout the day as the volunteers picked up purchased groceries from businesses around town.
Grain Shed communities co-ordinator Jodie Grant said the hampers came about in 2020 during the COVID lockdowns.
“We used to do a Christmas lunch originally and when COVID hit we had to change the way we did things,” Ms Grant said.
“The hampers started as small shopping bag, but since then there has just been more and more need in the community and it has morphed into this.
“The idea of the hampers is that it is nonperishable food, therefore people can spend more money on the Christmas that they want to with their families.”
Most of the money to purchase the goods is donated through the church congregation and a small amount from local businesses.
Although this was an ongoing project through the year, the demand for the hampers at Christmas time is, of course, increased.
The church works in with a range of community services such as Mallee District Aboriginal Services, Swan Hill Council, The Salvation Army and other outreach groups.
“People feel more comfortable going to their familiar service providers than approaching the church directly for help,” Ms Grant said.
“We have people from some of those services here today packing as well.
“This is the first time we have done this and it is great as people from the different services get to meet and come together.”
Community service providers are in the best position to know who the neediest people are within their groups and can get the hampers to the people that need them the most.
The church also holds some hampers so that people can go directly to pick them up from there as well.
