BY BRITTANY BUSCH

Knives are chopping, the oven is humming, and the smell of freshly baked pastry fills the room. There’s a fridge, a large bench, and a sink. It looks like what an average inner-city kitchen might be expected to look like. 

But something very special happens here. 

This kitchen is the main hub of the It’s the Little Things community - a benevolent charity cooking and donating meals for those in need in Victoria.

Founder Jane Stewart said her goal is not just to provide those experiencing food insecurity with the bare essentials, but to make food with heart. 

The response from recipients of her food helped her realise the impact that eating a nutritious, home-cooked meal can have. 

“I was trying to cook like they would remember their mums would cook,” she said. 

“And they're like, ‘Oh my God, we feel so much better’. Just with the nutritional value of the food. This was real food.”

Food insecurity remains a persistent issue across the state. 

The 2022 Foodbank Hunger Report revealed that each month in Victoria, 276,000 households received assistance from food relief organisations.

Ms Stewart said It’s the Little Things meals are delivered across the eastern suburbs of Melbourne from Camberwell to Wantirna, with some sent all the way south to Rosebud. 

Many are delivered by Ms Stewart herself.

“The need is ridiculous,” she said.

Ms Stewart started out making sandwiches from home to donate during the COVID-19 pandemic. From there she began to grow the operation. Now, there are 21 volunteers making 400 home-cooked meals a week. 

They also bake lunchbox snacks, and donate items like lunchboxes or books for children.

“It's really amazing because it is the little engine that could,” she said

In a video testimonial, one man described receiving an It’s the Little Things meal as the highlight of his week. 

Another little girl reported how proud she was to have a home-baked cupcake in her lunch.

“People will actually come and ask for our meals now, which is really nice,” Ms Stewart said.

Recipients of the meals are not the only ones who feel the benefits; it’s an opportunity for volunteers too. 

Keeping it social, fun, and flexible for them is important, Ms Stewart said. 

“We've got regulars that'll come every week, because they love it,” she said. 

“It gives us all joy as well.”

The Adventist Development Relief Association (ADRA) Wantirna is a regular recipient of the meals, and has a client base largely made up of families that are domestic violence survivors. 

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, women affected by domestic and family violence are particularly vulnerable to experiencing food insecurity.

Liz Heath, project manager at ADRA Wantirna, said many of their clients are living in motels, without access to a kitchen to cook for themselves. 

One mother is staying in a two-bedroom motel unit with four small children and there often isn’t money for things like snacks in the kids’ lunches, Ms Heath said. 

“When we dropped off the lunchboxes for her kids with the snacks, she just cried. She's like, ‘I can't believe anyone would think to do this’,” she said.

Ms Heath believes these acts of kindness help people to see that there is joy and hope in their future. 

“Even though they're going through really tough times, you know, they know that they can still get care and love,” she said. 

“We're truly blessed to have such a good relationship and a good partnership with Jane.”

Through their work at the It’s the Little Things Community, Ms Stewart hopes to inspire others to start thinking about the small ways they can help those in need. 

“It really is the little things,” she said. 

“It really does make a huge difference.”