Over the past few months, the amount of fresh produce that has been made available has increased greatly because of the generous donations from our local Aldi store. We have been able to offer this food to clients free of charge, helping to provide people with food security.

Central West Food Rescue has also been in contact with us, and from time to time, they make donations of food from Sydney which boosts our supply of groceries.

Cowra Food Hall is never short of donations from local people and we are grateful to them for their generosity.

Knitting needles clicked busily over the winter months as clients and volunteers created many colourful knitted squares which were sewn together to make a blanket. This was given to “Wrap with Love” representative Marguerite Walmsley who sent it to the Sydney office.

The Food Hall venue had a face lift in October with a new coat of paint and the opportunity arose for us to have a general clean-up and clean-out. This led to a garage sale with proceeds going to help purchase a new refrigerator to complement our new freezer.

Cowra Rotary Club very kindly donated a new freezer for Food Hall. This is of great benefit to us as frozen meat and dairy products can now be sourced and this adds more variety to the food we already offer.

During winter, a bulk order of 350kg of oranges arrived. Amazingly they were all given away in one day.

Our volunteers’ “Thank You Luncheon” was held on November 8. The food hall committee just wanted to say thank you to the volunteers and to show how much we appreciate your time throughout the year.

Every Friday morning a team of volunteers opens the doors to around 60 families each week and are looked after and provided with fresh food and groceries.

Rain, hail or shine you will find Darren, James and Jenny in the Food Hall kitchen garden. With perseverance and hard work, they grow fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit to add to the Friday morning complementary table.

Many clients of Food Hall were happy for the opportunity to give to others in need, their generosity was welcomed when a large quantity of grocery items were collected and donated to the drought appeal.

To all the people in the community of Cowra who help the Food Hall in some way the committee says thank you for your help over the past year. Have a safe and happy Christmas and a healthy New Year.

We look forward to 2019 knowing that we can continue to provide food security for those who need help in a happy and safe environment.