By Ethan Benedicto
The Transit Soup Kitchen and Food Support in Narre Warren held its grand reopening on Saturday 23 November, after undergoing renovations earlier this year.
With more than 100 volunteers lending their hands, tools and time towards upgrades on amenities, the building’s foundational structures, tilings, tables and more, the reopening is a remarkable milestone for the volunteers and their support of over 1500 every week.
Michelle Pinxt, the kitchen’s grants and community relations officer, said that she was, and is “absolutely excited and relieved and happy and everything in between”.
“For the guests, I feel like we’ve given them a sense of dignity with it, which I think is often not always there with soup kitchens.
“I feel like there’s this sense of valuing every member of our community at the moment, no matter at what stage there’s an appreciation that everyone’s doing it tough.
“People are connecting on a different level together when they think, ‘oh if we’re doing it tough now, I can’t imagine people in different positions doing it harder – so yeah there’s this whole sense of connection and compassion among the people.”
The reopening was attended by over 150 guests, which could be more considering Pinxt recalled selling 150 sausages, buying more, and selling those out as well.
Nevertheless, for Pinxt and the volunteers who serve as the cogs of the kitchen, seeing the care and effort by the people who had helped bring it to where it is now, was something that had them “blown away”.
“We had over 50 tradesmen that donated their time [and] countless hours on countless hours that they put in on their weekends, public holidays, after work, taking days off to get it all done, it was all incredible.
“We also had this incredible cooking team that got together and created this whole atmosphere of camaraderie and fun throughout the whole thing, so everyone was not only well-fed but really connected as a community.”
The kitchen’s service did not halt during the renovation, however, as food hampers made by the volunteers were able to keep those in need nourished, saving Transit the pain of having to turn anybody away.
From the businesses to the local churches, Pinxt recalled the support to be overwhelming, and seeing it all come together, with all parties’ efforts blooming, she was “incredibly humbled”.
