After Paula Zrilic fled domestic violence, her life changed in a heartbeat.
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"Being homeless and trying to rebuild a house with three young children with no support was difficult. When I tried to get support from several agencies, I couldn't because I did not have a healthcare card," she said.
The experience helped her to come up with Our Community Pantry project, a food-rescue service based in Bargo, run by NFP Whole Heart Communities Ltd.
"Essentially, we divert food that would be heading to landfill and make it available and affordable to our members," she said.
"Anyone can go from comfortable existence to struggling to put the food on the table. I wanted our approach to be a hand up and not hand out," she said.
Looking at starting an outreach service in Goulburn, a hamper information session and collection will be held on Saturday, September 21 at 3pm in Goulburn Scouts Hall.
"We have several families from Goulburn coming to us from a very long time. Unlike some agencies, we do not require a healthcare card. We will be delivering the hampers which have been packed to gauge the need," she said.
"We are a social enterprise which is non-political, non-religious based and open to all."
The service started in January, 2018 in Bargo and now supports 3000 families.
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