https://www.xxzza1.com
20 C
Newcastle

Cooking up support for Newcastle charities

SHARE

City of Newcastle has handed over its unused commercial kitchen facilities to help charities prepare healthy meals for families struggling to get by.

And, Newcastle City Hall’s executive chef Mark Rusev is putting his culinary skills to use by serving up dishes to be delivered to those at Ronald McDonald House.

Council’s commercial kitchen at the Fort Scratchley Function Centre was also donated to Catholic Care Social Services.

Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said their civic services venues and catering team reached out to local charities to offer up the City’s unused facilities, to help them meet increased demand.

“Many Newcastle families are experiencing financial difficulty and facing economic uncertainty as a result of the prolonged lockdown,” she explained.

“This is placing immense strain on local charities.

“Due to current restrictions, our commercial kitchen spaces are temporarily not operating.

“So, the civic services venues and catering team came up with an initiative to open their kitchens to support charities who have either had to scale up due to COVID-19 or have been adversely affected by the lockdown measures.

“Our members have assisted Ronald McDonald House in recent years by visiting the house to prepare meals for families.

“This is a wonderful way of continuing our support in a COVIDSafe way by cooking in our own facilities and delivering the meals.”

Ronald McDonald House Newcastle community engagement coordinator Kerryn Scully said she was appreciative of City of Newcastle’s offer for those staying at the facility during the current lockdown.

“Families are finding it very difficult at the moment to simply pop down to the supermarket to purchase ingredients to prepare their own meals,” she stated.

“They need to remain extra vigilant to COVID-19 in order to protect their child undergoing vital treatment at John Hunter Children’s Hospital.

“Some stay with us for 100 days or more.

“So, the cost of purchasing takeaway meals every night is an expensive option for families already under financial strain.

“We are so grateful to our generous community and the City of Newcastle team for their kind gesture to prepare and deliver quality healthy meals prepared by executive chef Mark Rusev. 

“Our beautiful families are doing it extremely tough at the moment and this is just one less problem they have to face, allowing them to focus on supporting their child.” 

Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.

For more news stories:

More Stories

Newcastle Weekly

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe to Newcastle Weekly. News, Community, Lifestyle, Property delivered direct to your inbox! 100% Local, 100% Free.

You have Successfully Subscribed!