Life-Gate Outreach Services CEO and volunteer Lauryn Hornby says Meals for Change provides hot meals out on the streets throughout the community as part of its street outreach service. “While we’re not primarily a meal provider, we know sharing a meal is a wonderful way of connecting with families in need and building trust and rapport as we seek to provide assistance to those living in crisis situations”.
The Life-Gate Meals for Change mobile kitchen trailer is a community service initiative through which a small volunteer team brings sustenance, hope, and healing to individuals and families in crisis throughout Frankston in Melbourne’s South-East.
“Since its launch in 2018, our fully-equipped trailer has enabled our team to provide more meals in less time, giving our trained outreach workers more opportunity to provide counselling, referrals and assistance to those who come along,” says Life-Gate Outreach Services CEO and volunteer Lauryn Hornby.
“This resource was a showcase of community collaboration at its finest: federal and local government, local businesses and corporations, community members and volunteers all coming together to design, fundraise, and build the mobile kitchen.”
When the hard-working kitchen finally required a new hot water system to replace the original Aus J 12V/240V Duoetto MK2 that had provided continuous service for all those years, Life-Gate volunteer Linda Perrin approached Aus J MD Jay King to get a price on a replacement that she could donate to the service of which she was part.
Life-Gate volunteers working at the fully equipped Meals for Change mobile kitchen trailer
“The old Duoetto that had provided such wonderful service for so long was finally beyond repair, so we were having to boil kettles to wash dishes, which is not much fun at 10 o’clock at night when everybody is keen to get home,” said Linda.
Aus J MD Jay King said he was so immediately impressed by the spirit and initiative of Linda – as a volunteer wanting to pay for her charity’s equipment – that he declined to quote a cost and delivered one to Life-Gate without cost to support their good work.
The Duoetto MK2 that he sent is the same water heater providing rugged service throughout Australia and worldwide in RVs, boats, work vehicles, mobile kitchens and tiny homes.
Jay King, who was impressed by the spirit and initiative of Life-Gate
Lauryn Hornby said the donation of such a proven product was doubly appreciated, because of the immediate generosity in replacing it without charge, and because the original Duoetto had performed so well over the years, withstanding all the knocks, bumps and continuous service in the hands of the many different people who used it.
“We loved the ruggedness and performance of the original heater so much that not only did I incorporate it into the original Meals for Change kitchen trailer that I conceived, but I also bought one for myself to use in our own caravan. It has been a wonderful asset and heats up so quickly.”
Community groups including Government, municipal representatives, and local business contributed to the original Meals for Change mobile kitchen, helping transform into reality what Life-Gate applauds as an initiative of community collaboration at its finest
ABOUT LIFE-GATE: Life-Gate Inc is an outreach, counselling and training centre located in the heart of Frankston. Established in 1992, we have been bringing hope and healing to our community for over 34 years. We are a small team dedicated to providing ongoing support, practical life-skills training and help to individuals and families in crisis, in a warm family atmosphere. As a Public Benevolent Institution, governed by a Board of Directors, Life-Gate Inc embraces a Christian ethic and addresses spiritual needs with clients if they wish. We offer high quality professional counselling for individuals, couples, and families experiencing crisis, struggling to find personal meaning in life, seeking new directions, or experiencing conflict or critical decisions.