Two local businesses have set aside their own COVID-related challenges to give back to the Clarence Valley community. Clarence Kitchen Collective and Roches Family Hotel have combined efforts to put meals on the table for families doing it tough at the moment.

Marijke VanderVlist and her team at the Clarence Kitchen Collective have been gathering donations from their customers to support the free Community Lunch at The New School of Arts in South Grafton. The free lunch, which is usually prepared by volunteers three days per week, has been significantly disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions. Hearing this, Mick Campton, owner of Roches Family Hotel in Grafton has stepped in to offer up their team of chefs who will cook up local produce purchased with the donations.

General Manager of The New School of Arts, Skye Sear, said that they have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Clarence Valley community, including local businesses like the Collective and Roches. ‘We have so many amazing community members and local businesses that support our programs and services year round. We try to support them where we can as well, so if you get a chance please support the businesses that so readily support our community in times of need.’

The cook up took place on Thursday and free frozen meals will be available for takeaway from the Community Hub in South Grafton next week. For further information you can call Skye at The New School of Arts on 02 6640 3800.