Marlene Owen starts initiative to feed Gympie homeless

Gympie woman Marlene Owen is well known in the community for her compassion and her outspoken ways, but the Order of Australia Medal recipient is starting a revolution to help Gympie’s growing homeless numbers.

A Gympie woman’s plight to care for the region’s homeless is gaining momentum, with the help of local high school students and the interest of the community.

Former Citizen of the Year and 2020 Medal of the Order of Australia recipient Marlene Owen has been distributing hot meals meals for Gympie’s homeless daily for the past four years, but has now enlisted the help of Year 10 to 12 students from Saint Patrick’s College.

Mrs Owen said she fed 20-30 people every day and believed every person deserved to eat regardless of their living situation.

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She said it was “magic” the students were getting on board the initiative, and the experience would teach them important lessons.

St Patrick’s College in Gympie will be helping Marlene Owen provide food for the homeless. Photo: Facebook.

“Every child should understand and know that not everyone is as fortunate as they are to have a roof over their head and a meal every night, and where do they learn better than school?” she said.

St Patrick’s College assistant principal religious education Kim Mooney said it was not clear how many students had signed up for the initiative, but there had been lots of interest.

She said students would use the school’s home economics kitchens to cook the food, before packing it into eskies and taking it to the park for distribution.

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She described the initiative gaining momentum as a “revolution”.

Mrs Owen said after the help of the SPC students was made public, she was approached by the Gympie Scouts, who also want to be involved in the initiative.

“They’re teaching the boys how to cook, so they would also like to do a night every now and then,” she said.

Nelson Reserve in Gympie where Marlene Owen and her growing band of volunteers feed the homeless. Photo Tanya Easterby / The Gympie Times

She said she has noticed an increase in the number of homeless people in Gympie since the beginning of Covid, and the rental squeeze in the region had only added to the crisis.

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“It really has impacted and really has grown,” she said.

“I’m also in the middle of trying to get a block of land off our council to build something for our homeless to get them off the street and out of the weather, because everyone deserves that also.”

The initiative will begin at Nelson Reserve in Gympie on Wednesday, September 1, with students serving spaghetti bolognese and brownies, and will continue every Wednesday throughout the school year.