House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Grievance Debate Pathway Community Centre Pathway Community Centre Dr HARVEY House of Assembly Newland Dr HARVEY (Newland) (15:37): Today, I would like to speak about a wonderful local community organisation, the Pathway Community Centre. Located on Milne Road at Modbury North and established by the Clovercrest Baptist Church, the Pathway Community Centre supports thousands of people across our community who are doing it tough, through a food rescue program and by providing other support services, such as counselling, tax help and information on other agencies. In fact, I believe that about 4,000 people throughout the local community and much further afield are registered with them. People who need support are able to join and become Friends of Pathway and collect a hamper once a week full of food, including fresh fruit and vegetables, milk, juice and other food items. I can say that it is quite a substantial offering. Handmade bakery bags, made by Pathway volunteers, are also filled with bakery items, such as cheese and bacon rolls and finger buns, and they are collected along with the hamper. Fresh loaves of bread are also available for collection from the racks at the shopfront. A whole army of volunteers, hundreds in fact, work to collect the food items, prepare the hampers and serve people seeking support. These volunteers come from right across the community and also include some who had been Friends of Pathway in the past and who have now chosen to give back to the organisation that supported them. What is also incredible is that the whole operation is not only supported by hundreds of volunteers and donations from the community but funded by the Treasured Op Shops also at the site, managed by Val D'Arcy and once again also supported by many volunteers. Treasured is made up of a number of little shops, and the one I found to be particularly innovative was the 50¢ shop, where everything on sale within the shop is 50¢ or less. Just last week, I did a shift myself at the Pathway centre, helping prepare hampers and then provide them to the Friends of Pathway on that particular morning. Through that, I met the wonderful, energetic executive assistant, Kay Flack, who took me on a tour of the centre and who introduced me to many of the volunteers there at the time. Unfortunately, the Pathway director, John Flack, was not available due to illness, and I would just like to take this opportunity to wish him all the very best with his own health. I was also grateful for the tour of the Treasured Op Shop by Val, the manager, who took me through the process of collecting the donations from the community, sorting and then selling the items in the shop, and of course she introduced me once again to a number of volunteers who are supporting that service. This year, already through Pathway 30,000 hampers have been given away, which I am told is 490,000 kilograms of food and an incredible achievement. I also met Susan, who runs the no-interest loan program, through Good Shepherd Finance, which can be used to provide loans of up to $1,500. Obviously, as they are no-interest loans, they charge no interest and can be used to purchase home items, things like washing machines, fridges, freezers, etc., and also, in some cases, can help support payment of medical bills. At the completion of my shift at the Pathway, students from the Bowden Brompton Community School came to do a shift themselves. I heard that they often make food—apparently, a fantastic soup—which they provide and which was being served to the Friends of Pathway. I would also like to touch on the fact that last Saturday Pathway hosted an appreciation night to thank their volunteers and partners. I also note that most of the food that Pathway provides through its hampers comes from SecondBite and OzHarvest, which operate fantastic services. This was a fantastic event, where all the attendees were invited to enter the function room on a red carpet—a sign of gratitude and thanks to the many volunteers who give up so much time to support others. The event was catered for by volunteer chefs, Daniel and Trin, and assisted by Christine and Gwen, and a team of students from the Bowden Brompton Community School served the food to the attendees. This was a wonderful night and a real celebration of the efforts of so many of our community who give up their time and their efforts to make the lives of others in our community just that bit easier. I would very much like to commend the managers at Pathway, as well as the volunteers, and thank them for all their efforts. I certainly look forward to doing a shift once again out there at some point in the future.