The ‘Wangaratta Carevan’ is a charity based in Wangaratta, a town in north-east Victoria. Operating out a brightly painted caravan, it is dedicated to providing free meals for homeless people and local families in need. It also visits local schools and other organisations to raise awareness of poverty and homelessness, with the motto “It is easier to care than to turn away”. The organisation is operated by a group of local, dedicated volunteers; the Carevan provides evening meals without fail 3 nights a week at different locations around the town.

On Tuesday evenings the meals are distributed at the West End Rotunda in Ross Ct. the evening of Tuesday, 28th of July was more special than usual. The Carevan organisation was giving out to their normal clientele free items such as donated shoes, children’s books, and warm blankets. They even enlisted the help of personnel from The Foot Centre in Wangaratta for a professional shoe fitting service.

Approximately 65 people came on the night with over 50 people going home with a ‘new’ pair of shoes. The children were thrilled at the new shoes and books – one young girl had never owned a pair of school shoes before.

The Wangaratta RRT team assisted the Wangaratta Carevan organisation on the night, setting up their marquee to provide a cover to the shoe fitting area and also cooking and serving a hot barbecue meal of 50 hamburgers. The majority of recipients were children between the ages of 5-14. It was a privilege to see the smiles on so many faces of the recipients of the gifts, knowing how difficult their day-to-day lives must be.

It was great to see this caring spirit being kept alive in the community through the Wangaratta Carevan and see how grateful the recipients were, for a warm meal and the donated gifts.

Related Articles

Community | Compassion | Support

Help us make a difference

Contribute through monthly or one-off donations and support the Rapid Relief Team’s work across Australia