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A leading Sydney food charity, St Merkorious Charity was able to provide more food to our multicultural groups in Sydney due to the support of Multicultural NSW’s COVID 19 Community Support Grants supporting our COVID Relief efforts.

As part of Multicultural NSW’s efforts to help our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities as COVID hit them hard during lockdown, we received $5000 to buy food and foodstuffs that’ll help fill our hampers with healthy, nutritional foods.

Emergency crisis has hit many in the community hard. As a front-line provider, St Merkorious Charity has seen more than most how much the 2021 lockdowns have affected the personal lives of so many.

St Merkorious founder, Paula Nicolas, has seen the need that hit our most vulnerable communities in Sydney.

“It’s undeniable how many Australians have fallen near or teetered off the brink that they never thought they would ever go near. Our times have truly created a challenge that’s been hard to beat for many from job losses, underemployment, increased homelessness, and more.”

This isn’t counting on the fact that food insecurity is a relatively rare subject in Australia.

“Food insecurity is an ongoing, hidden problem in Australia. But our multicultural groups often face additional challenges when they are seeking out ways to sustainably eat healthy, nutritious meals. Especially for new arrivals, many of our multicultural friends don’t understand Australian food, and might resort to buying things like frozen meals when fresh produce rises in price.”

Despite our status as an inclusive charity that accepts all clients into our Food Relief Services no matter culture, race, gender, or otherwise, most of St Merkorious Charity’s clients are multicultural or CALD.  This face hasn’t changed despite COVID-19 increasing demands for help exponentially since it hit Australia in early 2020 and never ceased.

This demonstrates an unfortunate trend in understanding which populations are failing to access Australia’s support services the most. This is why for our Charity, we are dedicated to help our multicultural community when they are in need of help.

Everyone has a right to filling, healthy meals every day, and emergency crisis reliefs like ours are a critical part of the temporary solution for many as they try to transition into longer-term supports.

“Food is an essential part of life, dignity, and health. Providing isn’t only about survival either – many people were starving not for only food, but for love. Isolation has hit many hard. When we reach out a hand to help, we are showing that they have someone to rely on. That their community is here for them, and that can mean the world.”

St Merkorious Charity thanks Multicultural NSW for their one-off help supporting our Post-Winter food relief.