Serving the Poor in our Midst – Western (Melbourne) SIP

Speakers:

Charlie Desira grew up in Malta in the aftermath of the Second World War. He migrated to Australia in 1963 at the age of 18. Charlie found work at Australia Post, beginning sorting mail. He rose to become Operations Manager of Australia Post Transport.
Charlie left to found his own transport company, C&M which he managed for ten years before retiring from active work. Charlie offered his services to the Holy Eucharist Parish where, as a volunteer, he helped with settling ref¬ugees. This work made him aware of many others in need in the area. In the year 2000, Charlie was responsible for providing a food outreach from the parish. This humble beginning expanded into what is now the Loaves & Fishes. In 2006 they entered into a new arrangement with Food Bank Victoria.

Foodbank Victoria is the state’s oldest and largest food relief organisation with nearly 90 years’ experience in providing relief to struggling Victorians. They rescue and distribute mil¬lions of kilograms of food each year – helping to feed more than 100,000
Victorians each month via 450 charity partners across the state. Emily Dawson is one of the
Food Donor Coordinators for Foodbank Victoria.