PRESS RELEASE: Dog charity last source of meals for community in Lismore

– Last community kitchens are closing after running out of funds
– Thousands of displaced people with no source of free food
– Many families living in tents in freezing conditions
– ARC Animal Rescue asks for Government help

“2 Ladies, a stove and a dog rescue all that is left to feed Lismore Community”

Community meals are being funded by a small Animal Rescue Support org (ARC) after one of the last community kitchens closed its doors this week after running out of funds.

In Lismore there has been 5 key sources of food relief since March, all provided for free: Koori Mail and Koori Mail Kitchen, 51 Wyrallah Rd food bank, Lifeline donation centre, Trees Not Bombs cafe and Sophia’s home kitchen.

On 5 June Wyrallah road closed without any notice, through no fault of the incredible volunteers who ran this lifeline for 3 months with no funding whatsoever.

Last night the Koori Mail Kitchen announced they will be closed until further notice due to a lack of funding. Trees Not Bombs have announced they will close at the end of June.

On 30 June the Lifeline centre will close. This leaves only Sophia’s kitchen, a tiny home operation set up to support the thousands of people living in tents and stripped homes in the freezing cold in Lismore.

Sophia’s home kitchen is funded by donations to ARC (Animal Rescue Cooperative) an Animal Charity that took the project on to ensure people with pets could keep feeding themselves.

“We worry about the wellbeing of the two women churning meals out in their kitchens, especially as we face other community run services winding down, but there are already so many people depending on them so we will be here for as long as the community needs us,” said Clare Kearney, ARC lead for Northern Rivers.

“Sophia continues to pump out hundreds of meals a day from her home kitchen and that of her few helpers. She sends meals to the Gold Coast, Ballina and as far south as Woolgoolga. She already can’t keep up with demand, physically or financially.”

ARC has been working to provide pet support in the area and knows that starving families struggle to feed starving pets, so made changes to its constitution for this temporary measure.

“Our funding for Sophia comes from the donate link in her daily posts, so far it is holding up” Every day Sophia posts up the meals she has for free and they are taken quickly. Many more are needed.

“We absolutely need someone big to step up and help the kitchens that have been forced to close down with additional food and financial support”

The appeal from ARC is for larger organisations and government to step in. “We’re an animal rescue, we should be a bit player in this tragedy”

We urgently need ongoing food relief for people who have no homes, no money, no power and no kitchens. There has been extremely limited food relief provided by the government, beyond a few hampers that roll out inconsistently.

Existing operations have run wholly on community donations of food, money and time for over three months, but the need has not subsided.

Community Comments –

– Kerry Harvey – “As CWA members, we have delivered goods to many houses which have no cooking facilities, nowhere to store or refrigerate food, little or no power and some are just not good at caring for themselves.”

– Marion Conrow – “I think the only reason im still standing is thanks to your food support”

– Sophia McCormick. As a vollie Sophia, Carolyn and Kay who has also helping them, have kept us fed some nights because as a vollie you often can’t afford to buy meals everyday, or find it hard cooking in a van when you are so tired from helping all day, and as much as you want to support the local businesses reopening, after 13+ weeks volunteering and using your own money to pay for fuel etc, you just can’t afford it.

– Merita Bray – Sophia Watt I don’t know how I’d get by with out you. And watching out for my egg allergy you have help so many and we all still need help

Lorna Fraser
Sophia Watt & Carolyn Flood are true angels 💕🙏 Have collected meals so yummy for a few displaced at Sth Ballina , very grateful to these
wonderful generous women 👍🫂😎