From the moment people seeking food relief come through the colourfully painted door at Thornbury Church of Christ they are treated with kindness and respect.
When the SecondBite team visited the food relief program on a Wednesday, the comforting smell of baked goods wafted to the door as the friendly faces of volunteers greeted us.
The church chapel was set up as a Community Hub with round tables and chairs, a tea and coffee station and a snack table for people to help themselves to.
Another table was set-up for food relief clients to chat to a volunteer and add their name to a list on a whiteboard.
People could then sit and enjoy a cuppa and snack while they waited their turn to collect FareShare meals and SecondBite rescued food in the next room.
Providing dignity for people seeking food relief
The church’s Community Engagement Pastor Maree Vase said to provide dignity for people coming in to collect food, they had started a system where a volunteer would go over to people as they sat at the tables and let them know when it was their turn.
Maree said they found this system made people feel much more comfortable than having to line up outside or wait for their name or number to be called.
The church opens its food pantry three days a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“We have around 220 people visit our Community Hub for food relief each week, and around 60% of those people come for food more than once a week”
Community Engagement Pastor, Maree Vase
We chatted to food relief client Cynthia, who said she came to the church twice a week and relied on the free food as she was living on a disability pension and struggled with the cost of living.
When it was Cynthia’s turn to head into the next room and choose her food, she was greeted by smiling volunteers at each of the stations.
First, she chose from the table of snacks, drinks, pantry staples and yoghurt before moving onto the freezer stocked with delicious and nutritious FareShare meals.
“The FareShare meals are a very big help”
Food relief client Cynthia
Once Cynthia had her chosen FareShare meals, it was time for her to choose from the fruit and vegetable shelves, before finishing at the bakery section.
She filled her shopping bags and trolley with the food before heading off home with a smile to turn the food into easy to make meals to share with her partner.
Watch this video of Cynthia visiting the Thornbury Church of Christ food relief program.
How FareShare supports Thornbury Church of Christ
In 2025, Thornbury Church of Christ received more than 20,000 kgs of FareShare meals and SecondBite food. Their food pantry receives a weekly delivery of the FareShare meals and they also pick up donated food from the SecondBite warehouse in Heidelberg once a week.
The church’s Senior Pastor Sue Maric said they acted as a hub for the FareShare meals, as other charities came to pick up meals for their own food relief services.
Sue said the food relief was just part of the support offered by the church to people in need, as they are also a hub for support services, and offer free Wi-Fi and showers.
She said transforming their chapel into the Community Hub had made a big difference to people coming in for support, as they now had their favourite spots to sit at the tables and had made friends with other regulars.
“It’s created a lovely safe environment“
Thornbury Church of Christ Senior Pastor, Sue Maric
Sue said that any food leftover after the food relief program finished was placed into the Smith St Community Pantry outside the church, which was open 24 hours/ 7 days a week for people to access food when it was available.
Thornbury Church of Christ relies on FareShare meals to help feed people in their community, and your support enables FareShare to help them meet the growing demand for meals.
Donate now to FareShare and help feed more people experiencing need.
