EVERY Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm, volunteers from A Good Kitchen serve a two-course meal to rough sleepers and financially unstable people in Swan Hill.
As cost-of-living pressures rise, volunteers says their numbers are increasing.
Volunteer Marg Cleeland, who has been with A Good Kitchen since it was established eight years ago, said she remembered when only one person showed up on the first night.
“I cooked and we only had one lady that night,” Ms Cleeland said.
“And last week there were 79 people.”
Even more people turned up to A Good Kitchen on Tuesday night, which was volunteer Maureen Jochinke’s first time helping out.
“I’m very happy to be volunteering here because it allows me to give back to the community,” Ms Jochinke said.
“I haven’t done a lot of volunteering but I think this is a good cause.”
Ms Jochincke is one of the new volunteers for A Good Kitchen, which is currently looking out for more helping hands.
Volunteer Ross Cleeland said there were not enough volunteers to ease the pressure on the regular crew.
“There’s people out there in the community who could spare an hour or two once a month and that would help give some time off for the ones who work hard every week,” Mr Cleeland said.
Lynne Laurie said she started volunteering at A Good Kitchen three years ago after the death of her husband.
“It gave me purpose and something to do, and I also find it very rewarding to able to help vulnerable people,” Ms Laurie said.
She spends two or three hours cooking with the other volunteers to make sure everything is ready before mealtime.
Ms Laurie encouraged more people to volunteer.
“Give it a go if you have the time,” she said.
“It’s very rewarding because you walk out and it makes you feel like you’ve done something good.
“And I’ve also met some great people here.”
