News / Community

Meals on wheels: new kitchen powers food relief program

Muslim women’s organisation has supplied about 20,000 meals to needy families since the start of the COVID pandemic

Asia Waqas at work in the new mobile kitchen.

Mark Phillips
Friday, October 7, 2022

A BRUNSWICK-based halal food relief program is ready to hit the road after securing a mobile kitchen. 

The Muslim Women’s Council of Victoria has provided thousands of free hot halal meals since the start of the COVID pandemic and will be able to produce even more following the purchase of a bespoke commercial kitchen on wheels. 

The mobile kitchen, about the size of a caravan, was officially launched on October 1 at the MWCV’s new Moreland Road home in front of a dignitaries including the Pakistan consul-general to Melbourne, Syed Moazzam H. Shah. 

They were served a delicious tandoori spread cooked in the new mobile kitchen. 

The MWCV began providing free halal and vegetarian meals to refugees, asylum seekers and international students during Melbourne’s first lockdown in March 2020. 

“A lot of people, especially international students, were stranded in Melbourne at the time and people on bridging visas were struggling financially and lost their jobs and their houses and contacted us out of desperation,” said the council’s president, Maryam Naleemudeen. 

“They had nowhere to go and there was also the language barrier. It’s convenient for them to approach us because we can speak to them in their own language.” 

Members of the MWVC began cooking meals every Friday, which were then delivered to needy families by other volunteers. 

Coles and Food Bank Victoria soon got on board by supplying ingredients for the meals. Ms Naleemudeen estimated about 20,000 meals had been provided over the last 2½ years, with about 40 to 50 volunteers regularly involved. 

They made use of Moreland Council facilities and kitchens in Neighbourhood Houses, but had no permanent base for their operations. 

This became a problem this year when conflicting demands for kitchen space once lockdowns were no longer in place forced the MWVC to relocate three times. 

Ms Naleemudeen said the council turned to a mobile kitchen out of desperation. The trailer cost $70,000 to buy and fit out. The MWCV raised $45,000 for its purchase but still needed to install kitchen appliances. The project was completed after the Inner North Community Foundation came to the rescue with a large donation. 

“A lot of people, especially international students, were stranded in Melbourne at the time and people on bridging visas were struggling financially and lost their jobs and their houses and contacted us out of desperation,” says MWCV president, Maryam Naleemudeen.

The van mostly remain parked behind the Moreland Road premises but can be wheeled out to events when required. 

“It wasn’t our intention to be mobile but we were helpless and didn’t have any other place to base ourselves,” Ms Naleemudeen said.  

“Finally we thought at least we’ve got this permanent trailer and we will keep it permanently there but if we want to move it, we can.” 

The security provided by the new mobile kitchen, will allow the MWCV to focus on other projects, including helping Afghani new arrivals to access schooling and language classes, and helping them navigate Australian shops and food ingredients. 

“Eventually we plan to open a café to provide training, employment and a community hub for outreach into the local community.” 

The Muslim Women’s Council of Victoria was founded in 1989 as a ‘first-port-of-call’ for Muslim women. It provides educational, legal and practical support within an Islamic religious and cultural framework. It also has a mission of breaking down cultural and religious barriers and overcoming misconceptions about Islam. 

Ms Naleemudeen said the organisation was always open to new female and male volunteers to help with cooking, packing boxes, collecting donated goods and delivering the food parcels.