Two mates make critical donation to local meal program

A SPARK of spontaneity and a growing urge to help their community has led to a selfless donation of $10,000 by two friends to help those struggling with food security in the Geelong region.

Highton resident Matt Boon and Waurn Ponds resident Adrian Lapetina have been mates for more than 20 years and their friendship has served as a catalyst in giving a sizeable donation to community-first organisation OneCare Geelong.

The pair’s $10,000 donation is earmarked exclusively for OneCare Geelong’s community meal program, which sees produce delivered to some of Geelong’s residents who have fallen on harsh times.

OneCare Geelong, based in Geelong West, runs a counselling service, a community mentoring service named COACH, a community foodbank and a community meal program which the two men have donated funds to.

“It’s important for me to support those who are doing it tough, and people need to eat,” Mr Boon said.

“It’s great that we can support small organisations like OneCare.”

Mr Lapetina learned about OneCare during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was impacted by the number of people who were in need of access to food.

Mr Lapetina’s empathy for those in the community who were doing it tough was what drove him to do what he could to help and make a difference.

He is now a committed supporter of OneCare and wants to share his passion and drive with those around him.

“There are people out there that have the means to give, we can band together and make a huge impact on the lives of others,” Mr Lapetina.

“I came from nothing; I know what it’s like not to have much. I’m at a point in my life where I can give back to the community. I want to make an impact and help people out.”

CEO of OneCare Geelong Claire Faulmann said the donation has taken a massive burden off the organisation’s shoulders.

“The donation has made the meal program happen,” Ms Faulmann said.

“We are in the position at OneCare where come the New Year we ask the question ‘are we going to be able to fund this program?’, so a donation like this will literally be able to fund buying the produce we need for the whole year.

“It’s a huge weight of our shoulders that gives an organisation like ours the confidence to run our programs with a whole lot less stress.”

Head to www.onecaregeelong.org.au to donate.