Ten Equinix Melbourne employees spent last Friday volunteering at The Hamodava Café, a welcoming venue providing breakfast, lunch, coffee and tea, as well as support to people from all walks of life, especially those living on the margins of society.
The primary purpose of the Hamodava Cafe is about building relationships with people and developing a strong sense of belonging and acceptance for all while assisting individuals out of their current state of homelessness. By spending the day serving and preparing meal services, our hard working volunteers got a real sense of the tiresome, yet valuable work that the Salvos do in providing services for marginalised individuals living in Melbourne.
Their day was spent undertaking table service, operating the café, doing food and beverage preparation, washing dishes and cleaning up. This experience provides a unique insight into to the lives of those who have faced a range of hardships in life and some of the comments received by our volunteers relating to the experience included:
“This was a very good opportunity to get involved with people in need and to understand their side of story and how to help them as much as we can to overcome their current situation.”
“It’s a great activity but very tiring. I felt proud of myself helping people in need and helping the charity that is trying to help these same people.”
“I enjoyed talking to people and having the chance to listen to their experiences.”
“Meeting new people, having fun, smiling and laughing with some of the homeless and making new friends were the highlights of the day for me.”
