Lily’s Story

11-year-old Lily, her mum Zara and her two younger sisters have walked in shoes that no one should ever have to walk in. Due to circumstances beyond their control, they had to move from a community where they had built friendships to a place where they were in fear of what lay beyond their new four walls.

Zara explains the situation that cast a shadow over the whole family: “We didn’t know who we could trust and, due to financial difficulties and struggles with my physical and emotional health, it felt easier to stay at home.”

Tracy, from Buckskin Evangelical Church, met the family through the Food Pantry at the church and invited them to Make Lunch. This was the key to unlocking hope for Lily’s family.

“I would get up really early to get ready and dress up,” Lily told us excitedly. “It was somewhere where I could meet people, make friends, do activities and hear stories”.

The Make Lunch club is the highlight of the holidays for the family, who attend every session. Not only that, but they now attend church every Sunday and Lily attends Youth Alpha. “I find comfort in listening to the Bible stories my Nan used to read me,” Zara reminisces, “and I like to sing, and I now have a church family who care and support us.”

Lily tells us that she didn’t used to have a faith and didn’t want to hear about God, but now is “starting to believe in something bigger”.

Meals matter. And for Lily’s family, they are now hungry for a meal that lasts. Through Make Lunch, and the doors it has opened into their local church and community, Lily and her sisters are growing in confidence. They are safe to explore trusted friendships, hit milestones they were missing, and smile again.

“Make Lunch hasn’t just changed my life,” Zara tell us, “it has provided the consistency and support that my girls needed for them to get back to being the girls they used to be and for things not to keep getting worse. They didn’t want to just give us a meal, they wanted us to leave with a full belly and more.”