Students’ soup project gets on The Project

A SURF Coast Secondary College initiative to make food for those in need shows no sign of slowing, and the collective effort will soon be seen nationally on The Project.
A camera crew from the popular Channel 10 news and current affairs talk show visited the college’s kitchen on Friday last week to film the industrious efforts and interview students. The segment will be screened later this year.
As earlier reported by this newspaper, the school had been wanting to help the community in some way during the pandemic, and decided while their facilities were not being used, making meals was the most efficient and practical way to help.
Starting in early May, a group of about five students, five staff and one parent helper managed to produce 164 servings of soup in its first week.
Most the meals were given to the Salvation Army for distribution, with some also being given to families of students who are struggling.
Production has skyrocketed since then, and as of early on June 5, the initiative has created 1,139 meals – equivalent to 744 litres of soup.
College teacher Peter Gunning, who is helping to co-ordinate efforts, said the initial plan was to produce only 600 meals in total by the end of term, and that was still three weeks away.
“We can’t do that without Peachs donating food, we can’t do that without Woolies donating food, and the staff that have all chipped in – that’s added the extra cream on top.
“Everyone’s jumping on board. We’ve had the time, with remote learning happening; we’ve had the students… all the stars just aligned.
“I know that Jacqui (fellow co-ordinator Jacqui Scott) and I are quite humbled by having this exposure but we also see it as just the Surf Coast Secondary College doing its bit. If everyone did their bit, the world would be a better place. It’s not something we want accolades for; we’re just doing our bit.”