THERE aren’t too many 12-year-olds out there who would forego birthday presents so they can help out the homeless and needy in their community.
But that’s exactly what North Richmond resident Ben Miller did when he donated all his birthday money to the Hawkesbury Community Kitchen in Windsor.
Ben’s mum Kerryn Johnson said she had been encouraging Ben and his younger brother Josh (9) to donate to charity for around four years now.
“I’m actually a mean mother!” she laughed. “Both the boys’ birthdays are really close to Christmas, so I said ‘if you have kids over for your birthday parties then I don’t want them to give you presents, I want them to donate $5 each and you can give it to charity’.
“My kids have everything they want and they’re not starving! My kids have so much stuff, crikey. So they choose a different charity every year - we’ve donated to the Guide Dogs and the Animal Welfare League and various other charities and this year Ben decided to give his money to the homeless.”
Ben, who attends Kuyper Christian School, said he first visited Hawkesbury Community Kitchen when his family dropped-off some cereal they’d bought in bulk from Costco at the beginning of the year.
“I decided since there’s a lot of homeless people out there that don’t get the chance to eat every day, I felt like giving [the Kitchen] money to support them so they can feed them,” Ben said.
“Being the boy that I am, I’d always appreciate the gifts, but it’s better this way because it’s going to a good cause.”
Adrienne Newman, chairperson of Hawkesbury Community Kitchen, said the organisation runs on charitable donations but she found this one in particular extremely moving.
“[Ben] enclosed a beautiful letter to say how he’d rather the money went to people who are hungry, which broke our heart. In this day and age, for a young child [to do this], it’s particularly touching,” Ms Newman said.
“He’s a wonderful example to everyone. If we can just raise awareness of his generosity and what we do, hopefully we can encourage more people from the community to help out.”
Ben’s birthday money will go towards stocking-up the kitchen with fresh produce so the volunteers there can continue serving meals to those in need.
The kitchen is open Mondays to Fridays for dinner from 6 to 7pm, as well as weekdays (except Wednesdays) for morning tea and lunch. During the day, they also provide access to their facilities for people to do their washing or have a shower.
“We are lucky enough to get various donations, including from OzHarvest. We try to make sure people can take away a loaf of bread, baked beans, whatever produce we get, for example if we get a large supply of mangoes, grapes, bananas, oranges, apples,” said Ms Newman.
“Also muesli bars, croissants, donuts, things like that, and drinks like poppas. We try to very much to keep it healthy but because we do rely on donations we are at the mercy of what we are given.
“Everyone is welcome. We don’t ask people why they’re here or where they’ve come from, and if they drive up in a car we don’t say ‘you’ve got a car so we can’t have you’.
“The people who come to us have very different life circumstances to you and I, so there are no judgements, we don’t ask any questions, and we offer as much help as we possibly can.”
They also have a stock of pillows, sleeping bags and winter clothes including beanies and jackets, as well as some cooler offerings for summer. The service is completely volunteer-run and has been helping community members for 25 years.
Ms Newman said monetary donations are welcomed as they can use it to purchase whatever they’re lacking in the kitchen at any given time, and also put it towards utilities.
“With the weather we’ve had the air-con on pretty much 24/7, so if anybody wants to pay our $3000 electricity bill we’d be really grateful!” she said.
“Also donations of canned food. We’ve had a lot of generous people who give excess food from a wake or christening, and we’re always happy to take whatever people are able to give.”
The team are also looking for volunteers to man their fundraising barbecues at Bunnings McGraths Hill. Call Bob Camilleri for volunteering enquiries on 0415 077 768, or for more information about the Kitchen phone Ms Newman on 0405 951 690.