Claire Faulmann dove into the deep end when she became chief executive of Geelong West charity OneCare as COVID-19 hit last year.
“I started on March 10 and the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic on March 11,” she said.
“Turns out, I thrive in a crisis.”
As food charities across Geelong shut their doors, OneCare instead ramped up its operations, modifying its community meals into a takeaway service.
“The team just sort of looked at each other and said, ‘we’ll put it in takeaway containers’,” Claire remembered.
“They were absolutely committed – it was never a matter of ‘are we going to close?’ It was, ‘how are we going to stay open?’
OneCare also began running a community food bank to fill the void left by the closure of other services for those in need.
The changes allowed OneCare to provide up to 500 meals a week and 1.5 tonnes of groceries to families in need.
“The [demand] never dropped, and it’s only increased since JobKeeper ended,” Claire said.
As a result, Claire is now in the running to win $10,000 for the organisation’s food relief efforts after being nominated for a nationwide ‘local heroes’ competition.
“It’s been lovely, but weird and awkward, because it’s about me,” she said.
“But the organisation’s not about me, it’s about the wonderful team we have here – especially eight regulars that are here hail, rain or shine. They are just sensational people.
“It wouldn’t happen without the amazing volunteers we have here.”
The other local nominees are Feed Me Bellarine’s Anthony Woodbury, Fight Cancer Foundation’s Barb Speldewinde, Peace of Mind Foundation’s Bronwyn Haskell, Geelong Youth Engagement’s Andy Brittain and Eat Up’s Jennifer Chiu.
Details: westfield.com.au/local-heroes
Luke Voogt
