AU – RRT Adelaide provide lunch for the homeless and disadvantaged March 2016

Uniting Care Wesley Port Adelaide (UCWPA) supports more than 25,000 people every year. They provide help for persons who are homeless, youth, seniors, those with mental health disabilities and persons in financial difficulty. The Plymouth Brethren Rapid Relief Team (RRT) is privileged to work with UCWPA and support the amazing job they do by providing lunch to the homeless and disadvantaged on a monthly basis.

On Tuesday 29th March 2016, RRT served 130 burgers & 50 sausages in bread at UCWPA. RRT volunteers found it very interesting to hear some of the life stories and were rewarded to see these people enjoy a hot meal. One person had not eaten all week-end and this was Tuesday lunch time!

Many had two or three burgers and some took one home for dinner. One mother took two home for her kids when they got home from school and she said she didn’t normally give them cheese but they were obviously having a treat that day! Someone there had been through bankruptcy three times in their life and another person had been left without a cent in their bank account through no fault of their own.

When talking to one of the UCWPA staff later on, they were saying they really appreciate what RRT do because it shows a community spirit which these disadvantaged people don’t get otherwise. She said that UCWPA are there to provide the support and counselling that their clients need but by RRT coming in to provide a free lunch, it shows these people that there are persons out there in the community that care about them. She also said it is an excellent way to get these people to come out and interact with each other. They are normally very isolated people in the community, often with mental health disabilities and they don’t often see or talk to other people so this day out is a great help to them.