Lalor’s One Way Lebanese Bakery racks up $100,000 in free food for local homeless
Chris Mansour and staff at their Lalor eatery are filling the tummies of not only customers but also the growing homeless community. They’ve so far given away an amazing $100,000 worth of food.
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Big-hearted staff at a Lalor eatery are filling the tummies of not only their customers but also the growing homeless community.
Lalor’s One Way Lebanese Bakery has in 12 years given away more than $100,000 worth of food.
At the end of every day, many of Lalor’s most vulnerable people queue up outside the store, and leave with boxes brimming with Lebanese pies, pizzas and other baked goods.
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One Way Lebanese Bakery co-owner Chris Mansour said not only were people invited to collect food at the end of the day, but whenever they are hungry.
“We have quite a few homeless people in Lalor so we tell them anytime you want to come in and eat you are welcome to,” Mr Mansour said.
Need for food had only increased in the past 12 years and Mr Mansour and his father and bakery co-owner Charbel Mansour had instilled a sense of the importance of helping the homeless in their staff, he said.
“We see it as we don’t just work to make money, we work to help people,” Mr Mansour said.
The free stock, worth about $109,000, was not old and could be sold frozen, but that was not the point.
“We’ve been doing it since we opened the shop and to be honest it’s been overwhelming,” Mr Mansour said.
“It feels amazing when you see people in need, who might otherwise be going without food, happy because of what we have been doing.”
Much of the food was taken by families, he said.
Whittlesea Community Connections strategic directions co-ordinator Bianca Opasinis praised the bakery’s efforts in the face of growing homelessness in Lalor.
“We are having so many people approaching our service who are experiencing homelessness everyday,” Ms Opasinis said.
Data from the 2016 census revealed 143 people in Lalor were experiencing homelessness, however the number was likely to be much higher, she said.
In 2016 the number of homeless people in Whittlesea spiked 38.5 per cent from 455 homeless in 2011 to 630.
Mr Mansour said the bakery had no plans to stop giving away food, however they asked that only people in need take it.
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