Elsie Lange
Since the pandemic began, an abundance of community-led organisations have worked tirelessly, with great compassion, to take care of those who need it most.
In the face of coronavirus or fires or floods or devastating storms, it’s been everyday people who’ve made the difference – and the Woodend Community Chest is testament to this spirit.
The group, founded by Reverend Melissa Clark, Grant Hocking and Barry McDonald and came off the back of a pandemic food bank, started after the June 2021 storms.
“The day after the night of the storm, I was walking down High Street in Woodend, and people were coming up to me and putting cash in my hand and saying ‘Go buy whatever you need for whoever needs it’,” Reverend Clark said.
“It was amazing, but it didn’t feel right – I wanted some sort of transparency about it.
“We set up a bank account and we called it Woodend Community Chest, so people can donate into it and we can make sure community members in need have what they need.”
Ms Clark is the priest at St Mary’s Anglican Church in Woodend, which worked as a sort of base for drop offs when the food bank was in action.
Since June 2021, they’ve distributed more than $5000 worth of vouchers, food through local grocery stores, school and lockdown supplies, and they’ve even paid for someone’s car registration.
“We don’t have tax deductibility, it’s purely a bank account – money comes in, money goes out, and we’ve got beautiful people who give five dollars each week,” Ms Clark said.
The organisation isn’t tied to the church and the town trusts Reverend Clark and the people who oversee the fund – trust, empathy and kindness is what the project is about.
“We know that we’re going to be able to help anybody who comes to us, that’s such a good thing,” she said.
