Emma, Sarah, Pokes, Will and Josh are down here again at Addi Road Food Pantry Marrickville. Except for Sarah, who has come visiting her sister Emma, they all live in a big share-house in Newtown.
“When I saw the story on TV I saw your van, I saw the writing. And these people I knew getting their food.”
“Working here … you see a lot of people giving. It affects me a lot because it really does fill my heart with happiness to be in the middle of it all, helping out with everyone else.” – Mary
Estelle has been volunteering at Addi Road Food Pantry Marrickville for the last year. “It’s been fun,” she says. “The people are nice. There’s such a variety of people from all steps of life who volunteer here … “
Towards the end of 2020 our Food Pantry Manager, Damien Moore, reckoned he’d been working so hard the time had come to drag him away “in a straitjacket singing that Donna Summer song, ‘Enough is Enough (I can’t go on no more!)’. I mean, it has been a pretty full-on year.”
“There is more to it than the hampers. We’re helping people, and we’re helping one another. We’re bringing people together. Helping people has different meanings to different people,” Matthew says sagely. “It helped me just to be here.”
“The hardest part is that the majority of people are still learning how to ask for help. Even after all this time it does not come naturally to them.” – Sallianne McClelland, Mobilising for Mogo, #Hampers of Hope at Addi Road.
The best gifts often have a story behind them. This coming week at Addi Road we will be putting together 1000 ‘Hampers of Hope’ for the holiday season…
“I do associate art with politics. I do sing political songs; but not pamphlet songs. I try to raise awareness of issues. I try to arouse critical thinking. I try to promote all the voices that are suppressed or that are not given an outlet.” – Justo Diaz
