Charity at Childcare

Education
 21 Feb 2023

See how Goodstart Clayton’s Community Pantry is benefitting its whole community.

BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

At Goodstart Early Learning Clayton, community is everything!  

This Excellent-rated, Melbourne-based service is loved by families, past and present, and its community reach goes far beyond the centre walls.  

There are weekly, all ages excursions to bush kinder, Clayton library and a local aged care home; and as well as taking children out, Goodstart Clayton is very successful at bringing the community in!  

Their Community Street Library, set up in the centre carpark, is a place where anyone and everyone can give and take books; and after a false start, their Community Pantry has become a huge hit with locals.  

To learn more about this fantastic food bank, we spoke with Goodstart Clayton’s Centre Director, Kashmira Bhathena. 

She explains that the Community Pantry idea first came about when her team noticed that families were struggling financially during the pandemic.  

To provide some cost-of-living relief, they quickly set up a Community Pantry in the foyer, stocking centre-grown herbs and canned food.  

However, despite the team’s best intentions, this first Community Pantry was a fizzer.  

Kashmira says, “Nobody would take the food, so as a leadership team, we reflected on it and decided that the pantry was not working in that form.” 

What was working was their Community Street Library, so they made an executive decision to move the Community Pantry into the carpark as well.  

They wanted the pantry to be open seven days a week in rain, hail and shine, so careful thought went into its design.  

Kashmira says, “We needed a pantry that would withstand all of Melbourne’s weather conditions, and were cautious about the kind of food we would provide, because we didn’t want to cause any food poisoning or a gastro outbreak in the community!”  

After settling on a weather-proof design, and deciding to stick with fresh produce and non-perishable goods, Goodstart Clayton called on the community to become stockists.  

Local schools soon jumped on board to donate produce grown by students and teachers. Childcare families started carting in loads of long-life food, like baked beans, pasta and rice. And a bit of advertising on the Clayton Facebook Noticeboard got more and more community members involved.  

Kashmira says, “We have a great set of parents who just want to give back to the community, and a lot of people started sharing the pantry on socials, encouraging others to donate their surplus food, rather than throwing it away.” 

“In Clayton, a lot of ‘empty-nesters’ grow fresh produce at home and they’re more than happy to give their excess crops to a good cause.”  

“Coles also gives us food donations every couple of months, and people who are working in the hospitality sector sometimes donate loaves of bread and fresh produce, like berries.” 

Still, it can be a challenge to keep the Community Pantry stocked! 

The pantry is accessible by everybody, all the time, and because it’s the only community pantry in the area, it gets empty very quickly. 

Kashmira says, “We do struggle to keep it stocked, as demand for food often outweighs the donations.”  

However, another community relationship – with Bunnings – promises to increase produce supply.  

Kashmira says, “This year, we are building a community garden to grow fresh produce and supply our kitchen and pantry. We will be planting different herbs and vegetables that will yield crops quickly, and Bunnings are going to help us get this garden started.” 

This is great news for the whole Clayton community, and a lot of thanks can be given to Goodstart Clayton’s Community Partnerships Champion.  

There are 11 ‘Champion’ roles at the centre, with educators nominating themselves for these at the start of each year, and the Community Partnerships Champion does a lot to build connections in the community.  

This year, Kashmira is in the role, and as Community Partnerships Champion and Centre Director, she’s always looking for ways to help Goodstart Clayton network with the community.  

The Community Pantry and Community Street Library are a big part of this, but new initiatives are always welcome, and there’s been great enthusiasm for the return of Goodstart Clayton’s intergenerational care program.  

Group visits to the local aged care home were paused for a long time, because of Covid-19 concerns, but everyone is thrilled to see the recent return of this weekly excursion.  

Kashmira says, “These visits are a super hit, not just with our children, but with the aged care residents, who are eagerly waiting for the children to arrive!’ 

The Goodstart Clayton team also do their best to cut costs for families.  

They know that childcare can put a lot of pressure on family finances, so the centre offers discounted fees for multiple days and shorter sessions, and no fees on public holidays.. 

Individual staff members also contribute to the Early Learning Fund 

Kashmira explains that, “Goodstart is a not-for-profit organisation, so we support the Early Learning Fund, which helps families who are eligible for an 85% Child Care Subsidy and have three- to five-year-old children.” 

“These families get two days of childcare for just $5 per day, and at Goodstart Clayton, myself and a few colleagues donate money each week from our salaries to the Early Learning Fund, because we know how beneficial it is.” 

The team is also raising money for Monash Children’s Hospital as part of the Clayton Festival, and the whole Goodstart Clayton philosophy comes back to community.  

Kashmira says, “We genuinely believe that it takes a village to raise a child. We are part of the village, and we also invite other partners in the village to come and support that.”  

With their initiative and enthusiasm, this is definitely happening.  

Businesses, schools, families, educators and many others in the Clayton community are buying into the ‘take what you need, bring what you can’ approach, and it’s little wonder that Goodstart Clayton is loved by so many.  

To see Goodstart Clayton’s amazing KindiCare rating and rave reviews, search KindiCare >>>>