Pantry Drive collects “massive amount” of groceries for people in need
A local teacher has harnessed the power of community recently, gathering around $20,000 worth of groceries for people in need. Guilford Young College Arts faculty head Matthew Stolp said the pantry drive started last year as a response to the panic buying that was happening as a result of the pandemic.
“I wanted to create an event where people could express kindness and generosity during a time that was difficult for all of us,” he said.
“I asked my friend Emily Wilkins to help and we held two drives last year. All the groceries we collected got passed onto St Vincent de Paul.”
The pair had not planned to run the pantry drive again this year, but changed their mind after the charity organisation reached out to them directly.
“Vinnies contacted us a few months ago saying that there was still a high need for emergency food and their stocks were low,” Mr Stolp explained.
“So, we decided to run a third pantry drive on Saturday 4th September.”
After alerting the community through social media, 12 friends drove around the suburbs of greater Hobart collecting the donations. Mr Stolp said the key message he hoped to share with the community was that it is easy to pool together to help those in need.
“There are people in our community who are really struggling regardless of whether we are in lockdown or not,” he added.
“I think what is great about the pantry drive is that it was just organised by a few friends, not a major charity organisation, church or school. It goes to show that helping others is everyone’s responsibility and it’s not that hard for the everyday person to make something happen.”
Guilford Young principal Craig Deayton said he was thankful for the vision, enthusiasm, generosity and heart demonstrated by the pantry drive organisers.
“It is areminder that there is always enough and we can help one another no matter what challenges are ahead,” he said.
“A heartfelt thank you to all our donors in the greater Hobart Community. The generosity was once again outstanding and St Vincent de Paul are extremely grateful to build up their greatly diminished supplies of food donations to give out to those in need.”
