Anna's Fundraising Begins. Left to Right Robyn Henderson, Paula Passi, Anna Henderson, Mary Puglisi
Waste Not! – turning unsold donated fresh produce into pantry items that are available to those community members supported by the GBNS Food Support Scheme. The project is self funded with the sale of preserves at Markets. Waste Not Jam is provided to school Breakfast Clubs and are also used in raffles and as gifts for Rotary guests, etc. Rotarian Kylie Linton volunteers for the Granite Belt Food Support Scheme, The Scheme is an outreach service offered by the Granite Belt Neighbourhood Centre; providing food baskets for those in need so that they can maintain a healthier lifestyle. Fresh produce is donated to the scheme from a range of local sources. Our Rotary Waste Not! Pantry Project takes perishable donations not consumed by the scheme, freezes them until cooking day, then turns them into non-perishable pantry items such as jams, pickles and sauces. A grant from the Regional Council and the Australian Government provided a freezer, a printer for labels and commercial grade cooking equipment to make the products with. As with all equipment owned by our Rotary Club, other community groups may access the equipment to assist them in their community endeavours. Suttons Cidery on the Granite Belt sponsors the project, allowing us to cook the product in their commercial kitchen. The project is supported on an ongoing basis through the sale of specialty preserves at local and Beachmere markets and stalls. This seed funding covers the cost of non-donated items such as jars and lids and ingredients such as sugar, spices and additional fresh ingredients. Our Waste Not! project: • reduces waste of perishables donated to the Food Support Scheme in quantities in excess of demand • provides a greater range of products available to Scheme customers, including jams, sauces, pickles, etc. Some preserves are made specifically to sell at markets. Funds raised will be used to buy staple products (rice, pasta) for the Food Supply Scheme (staples are not donated in quantities that meet demand). Some of the Waste Not! products such as jams are given to the local school Breakfast Clubs, with obvious advantage in helping schools feed their students as a better start to the learning day. Some Waste Not! products are used by our Rotary Club as raffle prizes in ongoing fundraising, for example, funds to support applicants to attend Rotary Youth Camps at no cost. Since commencing in 2020, the Pantry project has made almost 3000 jars of preserves. So many benefits from our little Pantry Project for so many people! Rotary in Action!
