The team of dedicated volunteers has worked hard over the years to provide residents with breakfast, and more recently lunch, or even just a place to get their daily dose of socialising.
On Sunday, the church invites members of the community to attend a special celebration of the program at the Echuca Moama Uniting Church.
The program began as a way of encouraging students who weren’t particularly interested in going to school to attend.
‘‘There were often groups of teenage boys and girls in the street during school time and we wondered why,’’ Ruth Membrey said.
‘‘We made enquiries to the secondary school and chaplain and were told most of these students were living away from home with friends some nights and other family members other nights.
‘‘So we decided to seek out people in the community who would be willing to work with us in finding a new place to provide resources to feed these young people and to seek out funding for such a program to become a reality.’’
Several men from the Uniting Church and the community came forward to work together, putting a roster together that filled quite quickly.
Since then the family has grown to include more volunteers, a wider range of people attending and of course community support.
‘‘There’s been so much support from the community. Donations of food and soap from shops and businesses, grants we’ve received,’’ Reverend Michele Lees said.
‘‘A wide range of people come out in groups from all over the district and some just come when they have nowhere else to go or they just want a chat.
‘‘We’ve really formed a little community and it’s just great,’’ she said.
All members of the community are invited to attend the service at 10am, morning tea at 11am or both on the day to celebrate.
RSVP to echucamoamauca@bigpond.com or phone 54821430.