Food Parcel Team

Could you be one of our Wednesday Food Parcel Team volunteers?

How many times have you felt starving, surveyed the shelves full of food in your pantry, but felt like you’ve nothing good to eat? This first world problem is starkly different to opening the fridge or kitchen cupboard and finding no food at all for your hungry family. For most of us, our homes are, in reality, amply stocked with plenty of options. But for some the refugee families Sydney Refugee Team assist, this is, sadly, not the case. That’s why we’re asking you to join us as one of our Food Parcel Team volunteers.

Many refugees and asylum seekers in Sydney receive either no, or insufficient, financial support from the government. Many struggle to find work, or the restrictions of their visa don’t allow them to. Feeding their families is a significant struggle each week and places great strain on these precious people who have already endured so much.

Each week on Wednesday, our Food Parcel Team volunteers participate in various capacities to bring nutritious supplies of food to our refugee families. If you are available on Wednesdays and would like to help us pack bags of groceries and/or deliver them to appreciative refugee families around Sydney, we’d love to hear from you!

The following descriptions break down the tasks into three categories. You can volunteer for a combination of these tasks, or join us from start to finish, so check the requirements and let us know how you would like to be involved.

All Food Parcel Team Volunteers need to:

• be a follower of Jesus
• hold a current volunteer’s Working With Children Check (apply at Service NSW).

Food Pick Up volunteers need to:

• be willing to work in pairs, one of whom must hold a valid NSW Driver’s licence
• be available Wednesdays during school hours
• pick up the Sydney Refugee Team van from North Parramatta
• drive the van to Foodbank at Glendenning and pick up bulk food order
• participate in Food Sorting (see below)
• return van to North Parramatta

Food Sorters need to:

• have your own transport to get to our sorting location in Rooty Hill
• be available on Wednesday during school hours to sort food into quantities for our families

Food Delivery volunteers:

• need to have completed Companion’s training and satisfy Companion criteria (check out the requirements you’ll need to meet here)
• must have a current NSW driver’s licence
• use your own vehicle (or Sydney Refugee Team van) to pick up food from Rooty Hill or North Parramatta during business hours
• be available to deliver food to refugee families on Wednesday after 3 pm or Thursday

Volunteer and Companion training is provided (training dates are scheduled regularly, check the News and Events page for upcoming dates, alternately contact us for more information).