Mary called to thank us for the gluten free food box delivery she received yesterday. She immediately started crying on the phone. She couldn’t believe the ‘wonderful healthy foods’ and was ‘surprised by the size of the box’. The box even contained two cans of pumpkin soup which is her favourite.

She’s an aged pensioner with very little money left for food after paying her bills and her credit card is maxed out. She lives off baked beans and out-of-date groceries.

The food box even came with milk which she gave to her friend because he’s doing it tough and she doesn’t drink it.

She said he really appreciated it. I encouraged her to have him call us [too].

– Anglicare case manager

*Name and identifying details changed for privacy reasons.

I remember hearing about a man who turned up to the Pantry one day and the volunteers had remembered, ‘Oh, it’s Joe’s birthday’. And so, they surprised him with a cake. And suddenly Joe is in tears.

And the volunteers are like, ‘Oh, sorry. Are you okay? Did we upset you?’ And they found out it had been years since anyone had actually acknowledged his birthday.

You’re not going to get that at a supermarket. You’re going to get that when you have people who are consistent, who get to know you, who take an interest in your life and who care.

That’s the kind of thing that we try to create at the Mobile Community Pantry.

– Nathan Moulds, Program Manager (Food & Financial Assistance Partnerships) at Anglicare Sydney

When you see a child’s face light up when they see they’re getting to eat something they normally wouldn’t get – it’s amazing.

When I buy groceries normally, I only get the bare essentials because that’s all we can afford. The kids don’t even ask me for chocolate anymore because they know we don’t have the money.

So, when we go to the Pantry and buy some biscuits, or something special, it means everything to a small child. It’s like Christmas has come early.

– Leah, Mobile Community Pantry shopper.