An Illawarra charity is appealing for donations of non-perishable items for its Christmas hampers, as it faces unprecedented demand from people doing it tough this year. Kind Hearts Illawarra, founded in 2017 by Steph MacLeod and two others, runs a weekly outreach service and provides up to 80 hampers a week to regular clients.
Director Steph MacLeod said the charity is struggling to keep up with demand, which has increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. “I have been doing this for 11 years; as Kind Hearts since 2017, [but] it's just getting worse,” she said. “We have just been getting absolutely inundated since COVID. Even the last couple of weeks it has been just so full-on.”
Kind Hearts operates a long-running outreach service at Wollongong's MacCabe Park every Thursday night from 5.30pm to 8.30pm, feeding up to 80 people. It also added a second dinner service on Tuesday nights, supporting up to 40 people, thanks to support from Energy Australia's workplace giving program. The charity provides hot meals, drinks, food hampers, hygiene packs, towels, clothes, blankets, and information on available services.
Since the pandemic, the charity has also provided hampers to those in need, many with disabilities. Through a partnership with OzHarvest, fresh fruit and vegetables are delivered each Thursday morning, packed into hampers and distributed, including deliveries to those who cannot collect them. Kind Hearts has partnered with Corrimal High School and Ray White Dapto & Horsley to collect non-perishable items, including specialty Christmas food that doesn't need refrigeration, for hampers.
The charity hopes to receive enough donations to fill 50 to 80 Christmas hampers, which will be handed out to regular clients at a Christmas party on December 22. Clients will also receive a meal and a gift. Kind Hearts has received several awards, including The Centre of Volunteering's Volunteer Team of the Year for the Illawarra, and director's son Josh received the Young Volunteer of the Year Award for the region.
