3000 Meals for Flood Victims – A Gift of Mercy
3000 Meals for Flood Victims – A Gift of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy from Cairns and around Australia have generously donated $5000 to support Far North Queensland flood victims through Seville Mercy Centre Cairns to deliver continuous hot meals each day as recovery efforts continue.
The funds have been donated by Seville to Global Organization People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) to go towards the hot meals they have been distributing to the affected community since the catastrophic situation unfolded.
Seville Mercy Centre General Manager Rod Cole-Clarke said he decided to make the donation to GOPIO when he became aware of the invaluable service they were providing to support flood victims.
“The Sisters of Mercy and I felt the need to respond to the GOPIO group’s call for more support from the wider community to help fund ingredients so they could continue their efforts. To put food on tables is the practical help that people need,” he said.
“If you can just sit down and have a hot meal, that will make you feel half human again.
“The beaches region is still recovering and many individuals require assistance. We decided to support an established organisation that was already demonstrating its support for the community and who was one of the very first to put their hands up to offer help when it was so desperately needed.”
Rod said the donation was provided as an unconditional gift of mercy.
“The Sisters wanted to help in a way that they are able – in prayers and in finance,” he said.
“They are elderly so they are unable to get out and help on the ground, however they wanted to do something to help with the devastation in the region.”
Rod has even offered to transport some of the meals personally to the Cape and beyond to assist.
GOPIO president Subash Chetry said he was extremely grateful for the donation.
“We as an organisation would like to thank Seville Mercy Centre and the Sisters of Mercy for their generous contribution,” he said.
“We are pleased to be recognised for our hard work and our support to assist the local community.
“More than 3000 meals will be donated to flood victims as a direct result of this donation, with the funding going towards the cost of ingredients and labour expenses.
“GOPIO is pleased to act as a medium for coordinating and distributing meals.
“Many people are still going to Holloways and Machans beaches on the weekend to clean houses and want to have a nice hot meal while out there – therefore we would like to continue this service of providing meals to local community hubs.
“We are also looking at delivering meals further afield, from Cairns to Bloomfield and taking volunteers and cooking equipment to remote hubs, with the aim of cooking fresh, hot meals for individuals affected by the floods.
“Canned meals are not sufficient as some places still do not have any method of heating food up.”
Around $10,000 has already been raised for GOPIO’s Go Fund Me campaign on top of this additional $5000 donation, with several organisations and ministries contributing to the cause.
Spicy Bite founder Daulat Panwar, one of the GOPIO members, said he was keen to continue cooking meals and is looking forward to providing an increased number of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals to the community, which has now been made possible by this donation.