Recently, our team had the privilege of spending a day volunteering with OzHarvest, cooking nutritious meals that would be distributed to people experiencing food insecurity. We arrived expecting a team-building day and left with a renewed appreciation for community, connection and a much greater understanding of the incredible work happening quietly in our community.
The day also reminded us of something we often talk about in terms of wellbeing—Often the things that fill our own cup are the moments we spend helping someone else. There’s something incredibly grounding about stepping away from the busyness of everyday life and contributing to something bigger than yourself. We left feeling more connected, more grateful and, perhaps unexpectedly, more energised than when we arrived.
We also learned more about the reality of food waste and food insecurity in Australia. Every year, Australians waste around 7.6 million tonnes of food, with households responsible for almost a third of that waste. At the same time, around one in three Australian households experience food insecurity, with many families unsure where their next meal will come from. It’s difficult to comprehend that these two realities exist side by side—that while perfectly good food is ending up in landfill, so many people are going without. OzHarvest has found such a practical and compassionate way to bridge that gap, rescuing quality food that would otherwise be wasted and redirecting it to people who need it most. Seeing that process up close gave us an even greater appreciation for the impact they have every single day.
And then there was the cooking.
There is something wonderfully simple about standing shoulder to shoulder in a busy kitchen, chopping vegetables, stirring giant pots and working together towards a shared purpose—it was about contributing, having some fun and knowing that the meals we were preparing would matter to someone we’d probably never meet.
Afterwards, we sat down together to taste all of our cooking creations! It struck us how powerful food really is. It nourishes us, but it also brings people together. It creates conversation, connection and a sense of belonging. In many ways, that’s not so different from what we hope to create every day in our clinic—a place where people feel welcomed, supported and connected.
We’re incredibly grateful to the OzHarvest team for welcoming us into their kitchen and sharing their mission with us. The experience reminded us that community is built through countless small acts of kindness, and that looking after one another doesn’t always require grand gestures.
I’m always looking out for the yellow OzHarvest trucks now, knowing what they are busy doing – rescuing food, reducing waste and ensuring someone else has a meal on their table.
