Inspired by the organisation’s call-out for support in mid-2024, club sales and marketing manager George Santos worked alongside ENH manager Sarah Peake to develop the program.
Since September 2024, $1 from each main meal has been donated to the Nourishing Hope campaign, with other opportunities to contribute encouraged through the club’s menus, signage and advertising.
“It’s been good from our perspective, obviously, involving the community in the fundraising,” Mr Santos said.
“Knowing it’s going to a tremendous cause and Sarah steering it, we feel very confident that it’s getting bang for our buck.”
For Ms Peake, the guarantee of around $10,000 each month from the program has been a relief, as ENH supports vulnerable members of the community through its foodbank.
The ENH foodbank has been providing support since 2020, with fresh produce, groceries and essential items.
“It’s made an astronomical difference,” Ms Peake said.
“We’ve been able to upscale what we’re doing and how much we’ve been providing for the people that are coming in needing that emergency food relief.
“The looks on their faces these days seeing what we are able to offer reassures me that this initiative has been worth every ounce of effort that went into it.
“We couldn’t have done it, obviously, without the team here at the bowling club.”
A portion of funds from the Nourishing Hope campaign has been allocated to ENH to build a coolroom and freezer room on site.
These facilities will support more ready-made meals for vulnerable people to access in times of need.
Currently, the cooking team allocates a portion of its Monday community lunches and Wednesday takeaways to be available at its High St location, which the team would like to scale up.
“Initially, I was just going to get a coolroom, but when I thought about what we’re actually doing and planning for moving forward, it would make sense to have a coolroom and a freezer room on the site,” Ms Peake said.
“We can get rid of all of our fridges and freezers, which frees up again space for more shelving, more space to hold produce and grocery items.”
Down the line, the organisation is also looking to introduce a cooking program.
“I’m really wanting to start this community-led cooking initiative, but I can’t do that until we have a coolroom and a freezer room,” Ms Peake said.
“It would be really nice to see, for example, maybe before- and after-school care ... whether they want to jump in with some of the kitchen team and help cook.
“Whether it’s sporting clubs, restaurants, anybody.”
Moama Bowling Club has happily supported ENH through this project, recognising its value in the Echuca-Moama community.
“Without (ENH) in our community, we would be that much worse off,” Mr Santos said.
“Sarah and her team certainly provide a service that is vital, and it needs to continue in our community to ensure that those that haven’t got the immediate needs at least have the basics ... even providing one hot meal a day.
“It’s a tough time for some people out there now, so it would be great to get a bit of a boost and donate now.”
There are six more weeks left to donate to the cause and reach the $120,000 goal by the end of August, either by visiting to Moama Bowling Club for a meal, or by donating directly through moamabowlingclub.com.au/nourishinghope
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