Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to congratulate the community of Eaglehawk, who came together recently to raise funds for their community Saltworks dinner. Over 120 people joined Jacinta Allan MP, Maree Edwards MP and me at a typical Saltworks community dinner in Eaglehawk to raise funds to keep the community dinner going. Together we raised funds to keep this dinner going not just for one year but for two years. Together we raised over $10,000 to keep the dinner going.

The fifty dollars a ticket will provide 17 meals to community members. The community dinner, which is held every Friday night, is a free dinner and it brings people together. Some of them are hungry and some of them are alone. It brings people together through in an environment that is safe and inclusive, and makes sure that people in Eaglehawk have somewhere to be on a Friday night.

We know that many people and, particularly in Eaglehawk, many local families are finding it hard to make ends meet. We know that some people are lonely and disconnected, and this dinner provides an opportunity for the community to come together to share a meal. For some people it is the only meal of the week that they share with others. We are social creatures and it is important that people come together. Saltworks volunteers do a wonderful job supporting and bringing people together. It is not just the meal that they share but also each other's company. Special thanks in helping to organise the event need to go to the businesses and organisations that got behind the dinner, including St John of God's pathology department, St Liborius Primary School, the Eaglehawk branch of the Bendigo Bank, bART 'n' PRINt, Bendigo Anglican Diocese, 3BO, Phoenix FM—in fact, all of our local media got behind the dinner—The Media Suitcase, the Australian Cable Reel Company, the Community Foundation for Bendigo and Central Victoria, the Bendigo Community Health Services and AFS. These are the organisations that got behind the community dinner to make sure that it would continue.

I know from attending the dinner quite a number of times last year how important this dinner is to the community of Eaglehawk. Many people shared their stories and the struggles that they have had. Many of them today are volunteers to help out others. This is Bendigo, this is Eaglehawk—making sure that nobody is left behind, making sure that we are supported through the hardest of times. I congratulate the community of Eaglehawk on coming together to save a dinner, a dinner that has become known throughout Bendigo, and we now have other areas of Bendigo saying that they would like to organise their own. Congratulations, Eaglehawk.

See this speech in context