Friday Night Burgers: Church’s 20 year tradition of feeding homeless people

Mayor Mark Jamieson and Sundale Community Foundation Chair Caroline Hutchinson present a $5000 cheque to Anglican Parish Nambour’s Friday Night Burgers coordinator Coral McVean, centre, part of the total of over $68,000 given by the foundation.

by Janine Hill

The Sundale Community Foundation has put its money where some hungry mouths are.

The Foundation recently presented a grant of $5000 towards Friday Night Burgers, which has provided reliable meals for the homeless and needy in Nambour for more than two decades.

Every Friday night, a team of volunteers gather at the Nambour Anglican Church to cook free hamburgers for members of the community who might struggle to get a decent feed.

Coordinator Coral McVean said between 75 and 90 burgers were served up every Friday between 6pm and 7pm.

Coral said the Anglican Church had hosted the weekly free feed for years. But the burger night’s origins began with another church.

“It was started by a youth group at the Baptist Church in Nambour. They saw a need for the homeless to be given some assistance with a meal,” she said.

“This was long before The Shack. They were very forward with their thinking.”

The Friday night burger event has evolved over the years, moving from the railway station and the hands of the Baptist youth group to the grounds and auspice of the Anglican church.

Volunteers do not get quite so personally involved but there are still more than burgers on offer. Coral said a former hairdresser offered free haircuts and someone else arranged free clothing.

“Everything we do is for free, and we are very non-judgemental. People ask, ‘How do you know they need help?’ I say, ‘I don’t know. I’m not in their shoes’,” Coral said.

Coral said it had been rewarding to see some Friday Night Burger regulars get their lives back on track.  She said the initiative was also rewarding for team members, including a young man who had not been able to work due to a disability but was proud to have a “job” counting donated stock. Burger ingredients come from the Suncoast Co-op and Coles Coolum, through Second Bite, a food rescue organisation aiming to eliminate waste and hunger.

If you would like to get involved in Friday night burgers, call the Nambour Anglican Church office on 5441 1018.