A Geelong woman has been recognised with a national award for more than three decades of providing meals to people in need.
Janice McGowan has been volunteering with Christ Church Community Meals Program for 35 years and was announced as this year’s Westfield Local Hero for Geelong.
Ms McGowan said she was in a “state of shock” after being announced as the winner and said the $20,000 grant she would receive through the program would go towards providing more food to the community.
“We do have a lot of long-term volunteers, and it’s important that everyone who uses the meal program is treated with respect,” she said.
“We serve breakfast every day of the year and evening meals twice a week, and we try to provide protein to people, especially during breakfast, as it is one of the most important meals.
“We’ve seen an increase in people using our service as we used to have 30 to 40 people coming in for breakfast, now we get about 78, and… there were 10 days when the number of people we had coming in wasn’t under 60.”
Westfield Geelong centre manager Lauren Frew said she was pleased to be able to recognise the achievements of people within the community while helping grow their impact through the program.
“As we round out the eighth year of the program, we continue to be astounded by the selfless contributions these individuals make,” she said.
“Janice McGowan from Christ Church Geelong has spent more than three decades ensuring no one in her community goes without a warm meal or a friendly face.
“Her extraordinary dedication and compassion have built a place of nourishment and belonging for hundreds of locals every week.”
Geelong local heroes finalists included Louise Larkin from children’s charity Friend in Me and Roxie Bennett from Barwon Health Foundation.
Westfield Local Heroes recipients were announced on 15 October, with winners receiving $20,000 grants and finalists receiving $5000 grants to continue making an impact within the community.
