Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge the extraordinary work being done by local food charity Penrith Community Kitchen. As part of the Stronger Communities Program round 8 grant, Penrith Community Kitchen was awarded almost $10,000 to support nine local schools with a new fridge to store food items. Additionally the grant is being used to purchase pantries for 17 schools in the Lindsay electorate community. The grant will also assist in providing emergency relief hampers for students and their families. Unfortunately, the cost-of-living crisis is hitting very hard in Western Sydney. Penrith Community Kitchen is seeing dual-income families needing food assistance in the Nepean area. Communities across South Penrith, St Marys, Kingswood and Colyton are being particularly impacted.

I visited Braddock Public School in Cranebrook to see one of the flexi-hubs, consisting of one of those fridges and pantries, accompanied with supplies from Penrith Community Kitchen to make sure every local kid can have a good breakfast, lunch and dinner. We all know how important it is for our children to have breakfast before school starts to get the most out of those morning hours of their learning. I'm so thankful to have such amazing community advocates like Gai Hawthorn and her team at Penrith Community Kitchen, who continue to help everyone in need. I also want to thank all the local organisations and small businesses involved for their assistance in the schools outreach program.