Meet Rachel, our Foodbank volunteer.

Twice a month, Rachel boards a train in Bendigo, where she lives and works. Two hours each way, door to door, to spend the day in the ASRC’s Foodbank in Footscray where she has volunteered for the last nine years. It’s the kind of commitment that raises an obvious question: why? 

“I really enjoy the community of volunteers, and the fact that we are all like-minded in our desire to help people facing difficult life circumstances,” Rachel says. “We’re like a volunteering family, and it’s even better because there’s such a wide range of ages in the group of volunteers. My Christian beliefs also contribute to my desire to help those in need.”

Rachel believes that the ASRC’s Foodbank provides a really important role. “Access to food is a basic human need, and I value being part of a facility that gives our clients a positive experience,” she says. “It is great to know that our clients feel that the ASRC is a safe space, especially as so many have had very difficult experiences in their lives.”

The frontline vantage point means Rachel sees up close what people seeking asylum are up against. It’s the newly arrived and those without a home who stay with her the most, people who have so recently fled real hardship, only to arrive somewhere unfamiliar and uncertain. “The transitional challenges and uncertainty facing such newcomers are almost overwhelming for them,” she says.

Rachel has enjoyed the friendships and connections that she has developed over her years at the ASRC. “We have such a positive impact on vulnerable people’s lives,” she says. “I can certainly recommend the ASRC for those wanting to make a real difference.”

In her hometown of Bendigo, Rachel works as a midwife, mainly in the public health system, splitting her time between hospital work and home visits. Outside of work, she loves spending time with family and friends, or planning her next trip abroad. Her travels have taken her everywhere from Ethiopia, Kenya and Croatia to Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Spain and the UK.