Cooking for Good at BaptistCare Narralling Community

A mouth-watering home-cooked meal is like a comforting hug, filling the belly and bringing a joyful smile. That’s precisely what the five volunteers from BaptistCare Narralling Community and BaptistCare Angus Bristow Retirement Village do for the tenants at Narralling Community.

As the cost of fresh food rises, the Narralling Community team recognised a vital need to support their tenants with access to nutritious meals. Seeing an opportunity to partner with Camden Local Council, they applied for a grant to offer healthy meals and cooking classes for the Narralling tenants.

Every fortnight, the volunteers come together to prepare nourishing home-cooked meals for the Narralling Community tenants. They serve generous portions of favourite meals like lasagne or apricot chicken with rice. For those wanting a decadent dessert, a large helping of apple crumble and custard satisfies their sweet tooth cravings.

One of the Narralling tenants thoroughly enjoys the delicious meals and appreciates the variety, saying, “The meals are so tasty and I’m excited to see what I get each fortnight”. Another tenant appreciates the value for money, saying, “The fortnightly meals save me time and money”.

Not only are the tenants blessed by the meals, but the community has experienced other benefits too. A strong bond has formed between the retirement community residents and the housing tenants as they work together to prepare the meals. Social isolation and loneliness, an ever-present challenge for ageing Australians, are reduced as tenants collect their meals, chat with the Narralling staff and volunteers, and form friendships with their neighbours.

Since the program’s inception, the need for meals has increased exponentially. The volunteers regularly prepare nearly 60 meals each fortnight, and the number is growing as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

Rachel Reid, Housing Manager at Narralling Community, highlights the program's value to the Elderslie community. 

“The Cooking for Good program has been extremely valuable for the community as a whole. Our seniors and single-parent families express how grateful they are as the meals save them money and allow them to enjoy nutritious home-cooked meals. The volunteers genuinely enjoy planning and preparing the meals and have developed strong friendships. We are so proud of what our community has achieved together.”

But Rachel is deeply concerned about how to continue supporting the Narralling tenants once the funding runs out, saying, “We hope we can continue to run this program with new funding opportunities. It would be heartbreaking to stop after witnessing its overwhelmingly positive impact on our community and the hard work that has made it a success”.

The BaptistCare Community Services team will continue to look for funding opportunities to ensure the long-term viability of the Cooking for Good program, and similar programs across the organisation that support the needs of vulnerable Australians.