Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In a time of crisis, the Gold Coast Community Fund stands for and behind Gold Coasters. In Moncrieff, since the pandemic hit, more people have needed financial and social support. It's been my privilege to work with the fund to support local groups who had to wait up to six weeks for the Queensland government to support them. Haveafeed is run by Lindsay and Robyn Burch at the Mermaid Beach Community Centre, providing meals and food packs for locals who need extra assistance. They received $2,000 towards meal ingredients, food packs and fuel from the Gold Coast Community Fund to keep their service running. At Angels Kitchen in Southport, the cancellation of mass and weekly collections due to the pandemic saw funding cease. They received a vital $3,000 from the fund to cover additional costs for hygiene measures and to continue their support for our community. The Lynne Richardson Community Centre in Molendinar received $2,500 for operating costs to keep their doors open and fuel vouchers for their outreach delivery vehicle. To Mark Woodhouse and his team of volunteers, well done for reaching out for assistance. Operation Gold Coast community food project received $5,000 for containers and meal ingredients. With many charity kitchens closed during the pandemic, the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre stepped up to fill the gap, delivering 50,000 meal packs to support locals, providing their facilities and services free of charge. There are many other organisations that the Gold Coast Community Fund has assisted during this crisis. I commend their work that has supported Gold Coasters for over 20 years.