Matthew Flinders students cook up a storm for St Peter’s community meal
Features
Two Matthew Flinders Anglican College students tell us how they are working with the college’s Chef Frankling and chaplain Kathrin Koning to help provide hearty hot food for St Peter’s popular weekly Community Meal, which has been impacted by building works
Earlier this year, building fences went up around St Peter’s Anglican Church, Maroochydore, as the site is being redeveloped with the building of a new hall. Since this has impacted the church’s weekly Community Meal, Matthew Flinders Anglican College came on board to support parishioners’ efforts to provide hearty hot food, albeit in take-away or picnic style.
Once a month, College chef Darren Frankling guides volunteer students in food preparation and packing, with College chaplain, The Rev’d Kathrin Koning delivering the 60 individual portions of hot food to the great team at St Peter’s for distribution.
“I was surprised at how little time it took to prepare 60 meals, and it made me realise that even giving just a bit of time can make a difference in many people’s lives” (Year 9 Matthew Flinders Anglican College student Jessica in July 2021)
Jessica – Year 9 student, Matthew Flinders Anglican College
It was really fun to be a part of the St Peter’s Anglican Church community meal initiative, and it’s something I would definitely do again. It was great to be able to spend time with friends, knowing we were all working together to help other people.
Coming in the next day, after Chef Frankling had cooked the food we prepared, it smelt amazing! It was really satisfying in that moment of realisation that hungry people doing it tough were going to be able to smell and eat this delicious and nutritious meal that we helped to create! I just hope that it is enough to bring them a little bit of relief from whatever is happening in their lives.
Participating in this cook-up inspired me to find out what else I can do for the community. I would jump at the opportunity to do something like this again. I felt good about helping out, and the idea that someone would be better off because of something we did, really made me proud. Personally, I was surprised at how little time it took to prepare 60 meals, and it made me realise that even giving just a bit of time can make a difference in many people’s lives.
This is a really good programme, and it really helped us appreciate how blessed we are in our circumstances. All school-aged children should get the opportunity to support the vulnerable people in their communities, so they realise how fortunate they are, and maybe even inspire some other young minds to realise they love helping people, and nurture the next generation of humanitarian volunteers and workers.
“The cook-up barely took up any of our time and yet was so fun and impactful. All Anglican school students should help support vulnerable people in their communities” (Year 9 Matthew Flinders Anglican College student Elizabeth in July 2021)
Elizabeth – Year 9 student, Matthew Flinders Anglican College
The best memory from the experience was the onion debacle. Two of the girls were using a fancy processor to get equal pieces of the vegetables, one of them being onions. Now, I’m sure as most reading this would know, onions are horrendous to chop due to their fumes making tears. So, when the girls chopped them, one by one, we each got hit with a wave of onion fumes causing us to tear up but also burst out into laughter. It was really funny and one of my favourite highlights of the experience.
I learnt a lot of new cooking skills during the process of prepping the meals and in turn learnt a lot about the school tuckshop itself. I found these new skills really helpful and found the whole process surprising at how quick, yet rewarding, it was. It showed me how participating in something I find fun, like cooking, can easily help the wider community, and it showed me how easily I could make a difference.
The cook-up barely took up any of our time and yet was so fun and impactful. All Anglican school students should help support vulnerable people in their communities. It doesn’t only help them, but it is very beneficial for the students as it teaches us new skills, whilst showing us how to help others in new ways.
Matthew Flinders Anglican College Year 9 students assisting College Chaplain The Rev’d Kathrin Koning with packing the meals for delivery to St Peter’s, Maroochydore ahead of the church’s community meal on 16 June 2021, with (L-R): Reese, Lilly, Gabrielle, The Rev’d Kathrin, Elizabeth and Jessica
