Jasvinder Sidhu is a man on a mission. The Tarneit resident dedicates a lot of his time working to combat issues such as homelessness and family violence in the Wyndham community. He speaks to Adem Saban about his work.
How long have you lived in the area?
I first shifted to Wyndham in February 2012. I moved here from Thomastown.
What is your favourite part about living in Wyndham?
I like the inclusive nature of the city and its multicultural outlook. The close proximity to green spaces gives the feeling of regional Victoria. It makes living very enjoyable.
What are some of the things you’re involved with in the local community?
I run three projects in Wyndham, focussing on issues faced by seniors, victims of family violence and a project called Let’s Feed. The biggest impact is made through Let’s Feed. We run breakfast clubs in a few schools in Wyndham and the rest of the state. The breakfast clubs offer food to those students who miss breakfast because of various issues in their families, including family violence, drug and alcohol use by parents, mental illness and more. Some of these students don’t even have dinner the night before. We raise funds primarily from the subcontinent and Indian community and buy breakfast groceries online and get them delivered to schools.
In Wyndham alone our project serves more than 500 students. We also source commercial toasters, fridges and other equipment for schools. Let’s Feed also collects in excess of one tonne of uncooked food, mainly donated by Indian communities.
Our major recipients are Fareshare, Whitelion and St Mary’s House of Welcome and other services for asylum-seekers, family violence victims and homeless people. We also provide cooked meals to Whitelion in Wyndham for their youth homelessness project, where these meals are served to homeless youth in the Wyndham region. This food is cooked by Indian seniors at Tarneit Sikh Temple every Wednesday.
Let’s Feed so far has raised $10,000 in partnership with Whitelion for the Wyndham Youth Homelessness Project. We mainly raise donations from the community and run the projects through volunteers at no admin and running cost. My home office is used for most meetings to avoid any cost implications.
What would you change about the area if you could?
Bringing an end to youth homelessness in the area is what I want to achieve. Youth homelessness is at an alarming rate in Wyndham. Support services are struggling due to lack of funds. This issue cannot be ignored at all. I would like to see local council, state and federal governments supporting the existing programs.
Where is your favourite place to get a meal in Wyndham?
Right now I visit Werribee Plaza, which has a number of options from Italian to Chinese and much more.
