Order of Malta Community Care Kitchen
A new soup kitchen in Bondi, that will provide hot meals to the homeless, disadvantaged and the lonely is set to open on 1 December 2021.
“The homeless population around Sydney over the years has become increasingly familiar with the Order of Malta due to our Coats for the Homeless distributions and Community Care Van Outreach service” explains Regional Hospitaller, Steve Christie. “The kitchen will be a welcome addition to the services we offer, extending our outreach beyond the homeless. It will not only enable us to provide a warm meal to the needy, but will serve as a base for our regional operations. We are extremely grateful to Fr Anthony Robbie, Conventual Chaplain Ad Honorem of the Order and Parish Priest for St Patrick’s Bondi, both for coming up with the idea for the kitchen and inviting the Order to be run it within his Parish”.
“The kitchen goes beyond soup’” said Fr Robbie. “Its function will be much more than that. Our members and volunteers will be able to provide compassion, care and understanding to these, often marginalised, members of the community. We also anticipate the ‘kitchen’ evolving to offer additional services over time.”
Whilst the kitchen will initially operate once a week the frequency of services is planned to expand within 6 months if volunteers and funding permit.
It is expected that the kitchen will host approximately 50 guests at each service. To ensure the long-term success of the kitchen, the project managers are appealing to donors to commit to a small monthly donation to cover the ongoing costs of food and other consumables.
