More than 120 of the region’s homeless tucked into a restaurant-quality meal on Monday thanks to the generosity of Wollongong diners.
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Patrons at a recent event organised by Samara’s restaurant made a donation for an extra meal when purchasing their own dinner.
On Monday, Samara’s Omar Nemer used those donations to help cover the cost of the lunches he delivered to Wollongong Homeless Hub.
‘’A meal was purchased at a donation price and Samara’s donated another meal to the Homeless Hub as part of our ‘meal for a meal campaign’,’’ Mr Nemer said.
Hub manager Julie Mitchell said members of the hub’s ‘’homeless family’’ enjoyed the opportunity to have a sit-down meal.
‘’Many of our homeless are disconnected from family and friends and invitations to lunch are few and far between,’’ she said.
‘’So it was a rare treat for them to sit down and have a beautiful meal and to socialise with others.’’
Ms Mitchell said the hub relied on the generosity of Illawarra businesses like Samara’s to survive.
‘’Gestures like this keep me inspired to keep going,’’ she said. ‘’Often the homeless are the forgotten people in our community, so this kind of recognition is really heartwarming.’’