Shine - Anglican Retirement Villages

Below OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn.
Photo by Jeff Camden/Newspix
Whether it is food on a restaurant’s buffet that
we know will be thrown out, or leftover food
from a big family dinner—it just seems wrong
to throw out food when others are going hungry.
Ronni Kahn, founder of OzHarvest, decided to
do something about it.
words SARitA EngLAnd
S
soMe eiGHt years ago, ronni founded
ozHarvest following a period of selfexamination
about her own life.
“i had reached a point where i wanted
to find meaning beyond just earning
money for the sake of having more
money. not that i had made a fortune,
but i had food on my table and a roof over
my head and two healthy sons—so what
more did i need? what really motivated
me was the notion that i had everything
so what more could i do?”
the answer was to use her
organisational skills and her knowledge
of the food and catering industry and to
establish ozHarvest, an award-winning,
non-denominational charity that
rescues excess food and distribute it to
charities supporting the vulnerable in
sydney, Canberra, newcastle, adelaide
and Brisbane.
in november 2004, ozHarvest put one
van on the road and delivered its first load
of food. in that first month of operation
some 4,000 meals were delivered.
ronni had spent months researching
the best way to source excess food,
redistribute it and to convince suppliers
that it was safe to give away. she has
also recruited many willing to volunteer
and others whose donations help fund
the work.
the food comes from a huge variety
of sources—but ronni says it is never
food that has been left on people’s
plates at a function! “we get a huge
variety of fresh and cooked foods, fruit,
vegetables, cereal, fresh and cooked
shine 27