Positive Life NSW

Fred Oberg reports on the Luncheon Club/Larder at its 15th Birthday.

It has been a year of change for the Luncheon Club. In June Carole-Ann King stepped down after almost 15 years, organising a fabulous team of volunteers providing meals and running the larder service, filling the stomachs and nurturing the souls of many HIV positive people. She wanted the service to continue and approached ACON and BGF for support to jointly take over the management of the Luncheon Club. Although it seemed a big change for some, the transition has gone extremely well. The volunteers have been fantastic in responding to this change and have been very willing to work with the staff from ACON and BGF to try to make things run as smoothly as possible for the clients who access this busy service.

For the most part the service is running much as before, serving approximately 180 meals a week and providing around 30 people a week with larder items. The traditions of the Christmas in July Party, the Luncheon Club Birthday Party in November and the Christmas Party in December are still going strong. Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, the Governor of NSW, was in attendance at the 15th Birthday party this year, a glamorous celebration with entertainment that was well attended.

Lunhceon Club 15th Birthday Photo: Dan Boud
The obvious changes that have occurred have been more around accessing different food suppliers, which has lead to some menu changes and a wider availability of fresh fruit and vegies. This impact has also continued into the larder where clients are now able to access 12 grocery items a month (or 6 a fortnight), including fresh fruit and vegetables, thanks to the affordability of the fantastic Food Distribution Network.

The other most noticeable change is the presence of HIV service providers offering outreach services to people using the Luncheon Club and Larder. For example BGF has been running its Phoenix Workshop program on a Tuesday, offering ongoing support, and PozCentral and the HIV Community Team from SESIAHS (amongst others), have become regular faces to offer support and advice.

So what’s new for 2009?

There will be the usual high standard of food produced by the fabulous kitchen volunteers (all updated on Food Handling Skills in Dec 2008). The larder will continue to be available for HIV positive people living on the Disability Support Pension or in financial hardship. There will also be a calendar of workshops and events run at the Luncheon Club on Mondays and Wednesdays that will offer information, support and service to all. This calendar will be on the ACON website. (www. acon.org.au)

The Luncheon Club is open to all HIV positive people and their carers. It is located at The Gordon Ibbett Activity Centre, 77 Kellick St Waterloo and is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am. A free lunch is served at 12:30pm.

For further information please contact Fred Oberg on 0400446712 on Mondays or Wednesdays or just drop in on a Monday or Wednesday between 10.00am and 3.00pm.

The Luncheon Club will be closed for the holidays from 23rd Dec, re-opening Monday 12th Jan 2009.