Community Pantry Pickers are ready to pack

A recent initiative started at the Margaret River Community Pantry this month has been several years in the making.

‘Pantry Pickers’ are a dedicated group of local volunteers, keen to support the philosophy of the Community Pantry in a hands on, practical way.

Passionate gardener Indianja Nikulinsky heads the team of volunteers who generously donate their time to harvest surplus produce from backyard gardens, orchards, and veggie patches in the Margaret River area that would otherwise rot on the ground.

A portion of that surplus is returned to the property owner, with the rest making its way to the Pantry where it is distributed to the community on Friday Pantry Day.

Pantry Coordinator Terri Sharpe was amazed at the generosity and selflessness of individuals like Indi and her partner Nico.

“We’ve always wanted to offer a mobile picking service to help out people who want to donate their own home-grown surplus produce to the Pantry but are unable to harvest it, but it wasn’t until Indi and Nico offered their time to pick it that the dream became a reality,” said Terri.

If you’re a property owner with surplus produce you’d like to have harvested and donated to the Pantry, contact Terri on 0448 717 098.

As always, donations can also be dropped to 41 Clarke Road Thursdays between 9 and 11am, or Fridays between 9 and 10am.

And if you’ve wanted to volunteer your time to the Community Pantry, perhaps joining the Pantry Pickers is something that could work for you.

“We’re looking for more pickers, so if you’d like to meet like-minded community-orientated people, do something worthwhile with your time, and keep physically active, please do get in touch,” Terri added.

The Community Pantry is located at 41 Clarke Road and has been operating for just over 12 months.

In that time more than 30 tonne of rescue and donated food has been redistributed into the community.

To find out more, visit facebook.com/margaretrivercommunitypantry