Roncalli Care - Information for Family Liaison Volunteers
Roncalli Care provides home-cooked meals to College families experiencing loss or hardship.
Our focus on the anonymity of both volunteers and recipients maintains the privacy of the family first and foremost, and avoids recipients feeling beholden to those providing the meals.
Primary point of contact
The primary point of contact for Roncalli is the Principal of the College, Robert Henderson, as he can offer support beyond meal provision as well as discretely liaise with teachers and other student support networks if necessary.
Family Liaison Volunteers
The Principal will ask the family to consider a friend who can liaise between them and the Roncalli Care Convenor (in case of roster arrangements needing to be altered) so their privacy and anonymity is maintained. It is also less intrusive for the family if someone they know is able to give feedback regarding their needs, instead of well-meaning strangers asking them questions at this difficult time.
Information required
In order to create a meal roster, Roncalli Care requires certain information. In most instances the Principal will gather this information from the family, but sometimes the Family Liaison Volunteer is asked to.
Here is the information required:
1) How many people the meal should feed
E.g. Two adults, one teenager, two primary children. If others are staying to help - such as grandparents - please include them as well.
2) Any allergies or dislikes
E.g. nuts, shellfish, mushrooms, spicy food etc.
3) Number of meals needed per week, and preferred days
E.g. Mondays and Wednesdays
4) Delivery address with details about where the esky* will be for meals to be placed
E.g. on the porch near the front door. *If an esky is not available we can provide a white foam box
5) Confirm that the usual 5:30pm delivery cut off time is OK
The family may want meals by 5:00pm if there are small children that eat earlier.
6) Confirm the start date of the first meal and how long the roster will run for initially
7) Check whether the family wishes the roster to be filled with volunteers who know them or those who do not
We can involve the parents of children in the family's children's year groups. If they would rather we didn't, we need to know which year groups to avoid.
Roncalli Care Convenor's role
The Principal forwards this roster information to the Roncalli Care Convenor, currently Paula Hackett. At no point does the Principal relay the name of the family or the reason they require help - they simply relay the answers to the questions above. By following this process, we have found the anonymity and privacy of the family is easily respected.
Volunteer email
The Roncalli Care Convenor will send you a copy of whatever is sent out to the parent group, which you can show to the family if they are concerned about what has been put in the email (some people are).
Volunteer guidelines
Volunteers must adhere to the following meal roster guidelines. All meals should:
- Be placed in the esky at the family's door by 5:30pm. Volunteers are asked not to knock, but may leave a note if they wish
- Be delivered in disposable containers that do not have to be returned
- Be cooked and ready for re-heating (this saves time in the evenings and avoids the hygiene issues of raw food being transported)
- List the ingredients
- Have preparation instructions attached if required
- State whether they can be frozen.
As with all donations of food, we ask that families receiving the meals utilise what they can, freeze what they wish and give away or discard what does not work for them.
Contact details
If you or the family have any queries about the roster, or wish to change any of the arrangements, please send an email to roncalli@johnxxiii.edu.au detailing your concerns.
A meal roster is not for everyone, but in many cases it can be a very special gift with no strings attached. The ability of a community to support its members in their times of need is a true indication of its worth. Thank you for being part of this special process.
