This year brings a renewed start for a Mount Gambier food charity with a new direction and three new board members joining the team at Spare Ya Change 4 Kids (SYC4K).

The charity cooks and delivers around 900 meals a fortnight to 25 schools around the Limestone Coast and tripled their service in 2023, due to community need.

Alison Boomsma, Shauna Wood and Maree Thompson have joined the existing members of the SYC4K board and chair Di Ind said ‘fresh blood’ was crucial to the success of the organisation.

“It’s vital to have new thoughts, ideas and passion to help our achieve our direction and strategic plan and we’re very lucky to have such high levels of interest from the community,” she said.

“It is also a great indicator that people resonate with our ‘why’.”

Ms Ind welcomed the new members, saying they brought lived experience, local intel and an empathy for helping vulnerable members of the community.

Ms Thompson, who is also president of the Sunset Community Kitchen, said she had always resonated with the charity’s purpose.

“I remember when SYC4K first started and were using our kitchen to get their meals out and I thought ‘what a great thing for the kids’ – it’s got to keep going and it’s very important,” she said.

“The biggest thing I have learned through my Sunset Community Kitchen role is there is always someone out there that needs help.”

Ms Thompson said many food-based charities were working towards the same goal – helping those in need – so it made sense to support and learn from each other.

“The Sunset Kitchen has over 100 volunteers, so I am looking forward to getting involved with the volunteer aspect for SYC4K and getting more people on board,” she said.

“We are looking for volunteers and they are welcome to come along.

You do not really need to have any skills, just a can-do attitude and to do what’s needed.”

Ms Ind said strategic planning year last year had laid out a simple new purpose for the charity moving forward, with “We feed the need” the organisation’s service statement.

“That statement will flow through into everything that we do, from communicating with schools, to cook day protocols and managing a volunteer base,” she said.

After being with the charity since its inception in 2019, Ms Ind said her continued involvement was community-minded.

“For me, being part of the charity is being able to give back to vulnerable members of our community,” she said.

“It’s about working together with likeminded people to feed the need of local school schoolchildren and their families.”

If you would like to volunteer, contact admin@spareyachange4kids.com