A Knox charity group dedicated to feeding those who need it most have come away with the opportunity of their lifetime.
Knox-based Feed One Feed All (FOFA), started by Lillie Giang, has been awarded the 2023 Westfield Local Heroes community recognition and grants program.
Absolutely surprised with the news, Ms Giang said this opens a lot of doors for FOFA and her volunteers.
“This grant is a big deal for us, because it means we can upscale our production in the community, and we have the opportunity to enlist more volunteers to support us.
“We can make an extra 16,000 meals in the community next year with the grant which is amazing,” she said.
Her plans with the grant also include the purchase of a new 10-tray Combi Oven for her shared kitchen space at Resound Church in Scoresby, adding more efficiency to her food production days.
“At the moment we only have the one 5-tray combi oven, which is actually slowing us down because we have to wait for food to be cooked.
“Being able to purchase a second one means we can speed up our cooking time, and have the ability to produce more meals,” she said,
Because of the Westfield Grant, Ms Giang also has more sponsors wanting to get on board with FOFA and support her work in the Hills community.
“We are very grateful for the exposure the Westfield campaign has given us in the community.
“We’ve received so many messages from other businesses and community groups wanting to support us, as well as more people asking how they can get involved or volunteer,” she said.
Currently, FOFA has one cooking day on a Friday, where volunteers from around the hills meet at the Resound Church kitchen, doing their part to prepare and cook meals ready for distribution.
Ms Giang said it really is a team effort.
“We have our volunteer driver, Ross, who picks up the food deliveries for us and brings them to the kitchen, so I have more time to prepare the food and create a menu for our Friday cook off.
“We have 10-15 volunteers who come to the kitchen each week for as long as they can, and help to prepare and cook the meals in their teams.
“Usually by the end of the day we’re only left with three for the clean up, because a lot of our volunteers have to get back to their own families,” she said.
Ms Giang described FOFA as a ‘circle economy’ between her and the agencies she partners with.
“The agencies that we cook the food for to distribute to the community also donate food back to us for our meals.
“We simply give the food that extra value when we cook it for their community members who need it,” she said.
Feed One Feed All was born out of a life-long passion for Ms Giang, who has always been around food and the kitchen since her family immigrated to Australia.
“I got into cooking at a very young age when we first moved to Australia.
“I would help prepare the food for dinner when my parents were out at work in the factories, so it was ready when they were home to cook.
“One day my dad got stuck on a train after work, and I had to cook dinner for my family and five siblings, and then my parents said I can do it every day,” she said.
Ms Giang said she cooked first meal at around 9 years old, and her passion for food grew from her family and schooling years.
“I watched grandmother in the kitchen a lot, how she prepared and cooked her food, and I also studied hospitality in highschool.
“I love food, I love playing with food,” she said.
Not only does Ms Giang have a passion for cooking, she also has a deep drive to help those in the community who need the extra support.
As the owner of The Food Affectionist, where she hosts cooking classes for others in the community, she thrives in the space where food meets teaching and learning.
“In my full-time job I help those with disabilities to learn to cook in their own homes.
“It helps to up-skill them and give them more independence at home,” she said.
Her passion for helping others less fortunate is where FOFA was born, and Ms Giang said she’s not stopping there.
“We were just wanting to help, that’s how we got started.
“I’ve got the cooking skills, and I wanted to do more.
“We started with only cooking 50 meals per week, and now we are doing around 500 to 600 meals per week,” she said.
After being awarded the Westfield grant, Ms Giang’s goals for FOFA appear reachable, and she visions a big future for the service.
“We would love to have more volunteers on board to help us grow and service the community.
“We’re now servicing 12 different community groups, and we have more charities and relief centres coming forward asking for help.
“Because we’re only cooking one day a week at the moment, we don’t have the capacity to help these other groups,” she said.
Amongst other things, Ms Giang is hoping to include more cooking days per week to keep up with the increasing demand in the near future.
“The cost of living is going up and up and up, and this grant means a lot for upscaling and purchasing goods to help more people.
“We are hoping to collaborate with Resound church in future to host meal nights where the community can come down and have a sit down meal with us and connect with us,“ she said
For now, Ms Giang is so proud and grateful of the Knox community who have got behind FOFA, and supported them in receiving this grant.
“Public response has been humongous.
“My Facebook has been going off with members of the community reaching out, congratulating me, and asking how they can get involved,”
“It’s not just about FOFA, it’s about getting more people involved and giving back to the community.
“We are so grateful for Westfield, the community who got behind us and voted for us, and everyone who volunteers and supports us,” she said.
