Port City Bowling Club Helps Locals Doing It Tough

With an increasing number of people in the community struggling to buy groceries amid the cost-of-living crisis, it would make sense if they could access this unwanted food.

Thankfully, one group in Port Macquarie is doing just that.

Port City Bowling Club recently donated $8800 to Rotary Sunrise Port Macquarie to support their partnership with the Dignity Dishes Program. 

This initiative takes food that would’ve otherwise gone to waste, become delicious, healthy, ready-to-go meals.

The first point-of-call for the program’s volunteers is to head to local supermarkets and wholesalers to rescue perishables, saving the items from being tossed into garbage bins.

The produce haul is brought into the local PCYC, which sorts it and sends it off to a specialist cook to prepare delicious meals. 

The meals are packaged frozen and returned to the PCYC fridge where they can be accessed by local residents doing it tough. 

Not only do these vulnerable members of the community receive a delicious meal, the organisation also undertakes a a welfare check to ensure they are safe.

A whopping 2626 meals have been cooked since May, with 840 of those in August alone, resulting in more than 548kg of food being saved from landfill.

Port City Bowling Club CEO David Gearing said the Club is committed to ensuring Port Macquarie locals doing it tough don’t fall through the cracks.

"We are proud to support the Rotary Sunrise Port Macquarie and their remarkable Dignity Dishes Program,” he said. 

“This grant is a testament to our ongoing commitment to uplift and sustain our community. 

“By backing this initiative, we are not only providing meals but also fostering hope and resilience among those who need it most.”