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Hawkesbury's Helping Hands marks 15 years of service

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Linda Strickland and her daughter Cassidy founded Hawkesbury's Helping Hands 15 years ago after seeing someone search their bins for food.
  • The charity has grown from serving meals to people experiencing homelessness into a warehouse operation supporting hundreds across the Hawkesbury region.
  • About 20 volunteers provide food and essential supplies during disasters, droughts, the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

Fifteen years ago, Linda Strickland and her eight-year-old daughter Cassidy began making meals at home for people experiencing homelessness. Today, their charity, Hawkesbury's Helping Hands, operates from a warehouse supplying hampers and basic essentials to hundreds of people across Sydney's Hawkesbury region.

The idea began one night at the family's home in Sydney's north-west, when Strickland heard someone searching through the backyard bins. Cassidy asked why someone would be desperate enough to look for food there. “How do I explain to her that we allow, we can let people be that hungry?” Strickland said. “I had blinkers on. I had no idea that people were that hungry.”

How do I explain to her that we allow, we can let people be that hungry?

· Linda StricklandShe recalled her daughter's question after someone searched their bins for food.

The mother and daughter prepared meals in plastic containers and took them to a local park where people experiencing homelessness were staying. That effort became Hawkesbury's Helping Hands, known as HHH, and grew into a wider community service.

I had blinkers on. I had no idea that people were that hungry.

· Linda StricklandShe described how the incident changed her understanding of local hunger.

The charity has become a major disaster-response presence in the Hawkesbury, an area hit by the 79-day Gospers Mountain bushfire in 2019 and 2020 and five major floods between 2020 and 2022. Prime ministers Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese visited HHH during flooding in March and July 2022.

Strickland said the charity was called to establish an evacuation centre during the first flood in February 2020, following the Black Summer bushfires. Its homelessness-service equipment included air mattresses, pet supplies and snacks. “We were already prepared,” she said. “Now we are prepared even better because five floods has taught us a lot.”

We were already prepared.

· Linda StricklandShe explained why the charity could quickly establish an evacuation centre during the 2020 flood.

The charity's roughly 20 volunteers also supported the community during droughts, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. At its busiest, usually around Christmas or during a major disaster, HHH moves between 20 and 30 pallets of donated food each day.

Now we are prepared even better because five floods has taught us a lot.

· Linda StricklandShe described how repeated floods strengthened the charity's disaster response.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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