It was a very Merry Mac’s

January 11, 2018

It was a very merry celebration at Mary Mac’s this year.

Mary Mac’s Place Woy Woy is a not-for-profit community kitchen where volunteers provide a hot lunch, washing and shower facilities and referrals to other services for the homeless and disadvantaged people in our community. It is an initiative of St John the Baptist Church, Woy Woy, and is managed and operated by us, CatholicCare.

Mary Mac’s Place Project Officer, Christine Burge says ‘Christmas time can often lead to additional hardship and financial strain for families and our Christmas lunch and hampers mean our people can re-prioritise their funds to other pressing bills like electricity and this lessens the burden of food and other expenses. Our fabulous lunch brings joy and brightens up Christmas time for these families and our hampers help see them through our closure over Christmas.’

This year over 230 people joined us for our annual Christmas lunch, on a very hot 40 degree day! ‘Our lunch brings people together and gives people a sense of a normal Christmas celebration’ said Christine.

A number of dignitaries attended including Jane Smith (Mayor, Central Coast Council), Chris Holstein (Deputy Mayor, Central Coast Council), Anne Charlton, Liesel Tesch and many more. It was wonderful to have them involved.

The Central Coast Harley Davidson Wreaking Crew volunteered their support on the day, mindful of the many socially isolated males who are struggling in our community. Thanks guys!

Mary Mac’s provide on average 80+ hot meals to the needy, daily Monday to Friday, as well as essential services like washing, shower facilities and a vital link to services such as Legal Aid, housing etc. ‘Often members will visit purely for social inclusion as they live in isolation. Food donated during our various food drives helped us stock our pantry well into the New Year which meant we could continue to provide this vital service’ said Christine.

Here’s a link you to a great NBN News piece on what Mary Mac’s is and what it means for those who attend http://www.nbnnews.com.au/2017/12/20/a-banquet-for-coasties-doing-it-tough/.

Our Hamper Hand Out took place on Friday 22 December. We gave out 391 hampers made possible due to a huge food drive in our local community. Many preschools, banks, surf clubs, yoga centres and shopping centres offered themselves as drop off points for food donations. We had 200 hampers donated by House of Praise Church, West Gosford and our volunteers and staff made up another 191 hampers with the donated food items.

Mary Mac’s Place relies solely on donations and fundraising to keep our service going. We thank our donors and amazing volunteers. Your support has been amazing.