2020 Apr 22
Majority of the world’s population is experiencing an extremely threatening and turbulent period due to COVID-19. Whether directly affected by COVID 19 or not, this disease has taken a massive toll on people’s lives around the world. This pandemic has dropped the confidence of most people to almost-rock bottom. However, there’s a glimmer of hope that humanity has not lost its purpose and there are those who believe in lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness. It has become evident that the vulnerable members in communities have taken a bigger hit than others when it comes to basic necessities and survival. That’s when human compassion comes into play.
Narrowing it down to a Sri Lankan restaurant in Sydney, Australia, ‘The Colombo Social’, is one such place that is determined to make its core objective to support people in need and make life a little less difficult in these challenging times. The Colombo Social is originally known to be a Sri Lankan restaurant and bar in Sydney that was launched in November 2019. Moreover, it always stood out among the rest of the Sri Lankan diners, not only because of their delicious authentic Lankan meals but also because their ultimate goal involved social welfare.
This particular restaurant works with refugee-support agencies; Settlement Services International, Asylum Seeker Centre in Newtown and the SkillMe program. They recruit recently-arrived asylum seekers and refugees to work in their kitchen or front-of-house as a method of helping them with their transition.
Nevertheless, given the current tragic circumstances around the world, Colombo Social has decided to provide its assistance by closing down its restaurant to the public temporarily and converting itself into a social enterprise kitchen! They started off with a project called the ‘#plateitforward’ campaign, and are currently progressing into reaching several members that are more-at-risk and to those in need of a helping hand. Their production kitchen caters to; healthcare workers, unemployed hospitality staff and others in need of basic sustenance.
As of now, this restaurant has supplied over 3,680 meals to the more-exposed, defenceless individuals in the society that are still rising in numbers. Peter Jones-Best and Shaun Christie-David, the co-owners of the restaurant, have decided to further expand their project by attempting to deliver nearly 2000 meals, free-of-charge, per day! Their aim is to serve community centres and charity organizations in the community, namely; Aboriginal Medical Service, Glebe TreeHouse and the Exodus Foundation, among others.
The team intends to continue this initiative in order to satisfy the demands of these charities and have also partnered up with other suppliers like ‘Nel’s’ chef-owner Nelly Robinson and MasterChef’s Kumar Pereira. They supply authentic Lankan and Western dishes so the recipients they cater to are more at ease. With the aid of Mission Australia, they’ve methodically packaged and distributed each meal individually and are currently doing a remarkable job at it!
Additionally, Peter Jones-Best and Shaun Christie-David have set another crowdfunding campaign in motion, which has already managed to collect over $25,000 for now. They aspire to feed over 50,000 individuals after reaching $100,000. According to Christie-David, “Now is the time to come together, even though we’re being kept apart, and do what we can to look out for our neighbours.”
These inspiring words should encourage us to make an effort and assist those in need during this catastrophe. Strenuous times like these test the compassion in all of us as humans. It’s time we act (even in the smallest possible way) to offer a helping hand to someone in need.
We wish this team all the success in the world!
