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Mr Knapton said it dawned on him that many people, particularly the community\u2019s elderly, would be going without nutritious meals as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n
He also said his personal struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and insomnia inspired him to rattle his pots and pans in the hope of keeping busy and serving the neighbours he\u2019s come to know and love.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re on a disability pension ourselves, so we know what it\u2019s like for money to be tight at the moment. It helps me feel better, and it\u2019s pretty daunting at the moment for a lot of people with mental illness, so it just makes you feel like you\u2019ve been helping out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt like it was the least we could do. There\u2019s got to be some kind of silver lining out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each meal is made out of Mr Knapton\u2019s kitchen, with the local fitting the bill for the ingredients he ventures out to get every Friday afternoon before he throws on his apron.<\/p>\n
He said he had received a handful of personal donations, including assistance from Brooke Murphy of the newly established Feed Me Surf Coast group.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have offered to deliver meals for me, people have offered to help me cook some meals, I\u2019ve got another friend who said she\u2019s going to help me make up a big batch of garlic bread when we do the next batch of spaghetti bolognese,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s heaps of ideas for meals and we\u2019ll just keep it going for the foreseeable future until it all sort of plays out and everything turns back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Knapton has been sharing photos of his culinary creations to the Surf Coast Community Noticeboard on Facebook where he offers his free homemade meals for delivery every Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really bizarre, strange time. We\u2019re all going to be fine, everyone\u2019s just go to learn to do what we\u2019ve been asked to do for the time being and then once it\u2019s all over, we\u2019ll all be able to return to our normal lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A JAN Juc local\u2019s aptitude for cooking has seen him generously prepare, cook and deliver free meals to the Surf Coast\u2019s vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic. Mitch Knapton whipped up a sizeable pot of spaghetti bolognese for his wife Louise and their three-year-old daughter\u00a0about four weeks ago before the family realised the meal could feed […]<\/p>\n