The Philanthropic Collective

08/06/2026

A King’s Feast…

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers for giving of your holiday Monday to ensure continuity of service delivery for our free food program today.

Produce arrived in droves from across our stakeholder partners creating a King’s feast for all with community care boxes overflowing. 44 boxes with a reach of 267 community members.

Class Act!

03/06/2026

The many Hats of Suzanne…

Vale Suzanne O’Conner, Philanthropic Collective Board Member and volunteer extraordinaire.

You would always know when Suzanne was approaching in her car as sometimes, she would have upwards of four to five canines, all of varying sizes, with her. Such was the hills dog-whisper, providing the time of their lives with windows down and smiling pooches all round. They all seemed to just get along. It was nothing for Suzanne to instantly take the time to stop her vehicle with her merry band, jump out and give your dog a treat and cuddle.

Suzanne has been with TPC from the outset, collecting produce from across the Shire, creating home cooked meals for anyone in need and dropping off emergency packs. At the forefront of Suzanne’s caring was always caring for the many of us which are carers, recognizing that they too required support and an understanding ear.

When she became aware of rough sleepers in the hills she would seek them out with a hot meal and was known to bring a guitar and serenade people with song.

Infamous for her themed dinner parties, this was a lady who loved having a good time going to next level efforts every time. Her home was everyone’s safe space, dogs, hills kids, holding yard for everything, even caravans if someone was going away. Suzanne created magic for everyone and a memorial experience.

As ‘The Keeper of Wood’ Suzanne managed over 100ms of chopped, ready to burn firewood offering her property to Rescue Logs Inc to store and distribute to community in need.

At her creative best, Suzanne, the Queen of Halloween, out did herself organizing convoys of hills folks to transport and decorate the Ferny Creek Reserve Hall for Halloween on the Green. Suzanne regularly held creative Halloween workshops filled with fun and laughter, reimaging all the props and bringing people out of their homes to share in something bigger than all of us.

Suzanne would rightly take her place leading the mayor’s parade at Halloween sporting her self-made costumes. If that wasn’t enough, she would decorate her home and garden for Halloween. Always dressed up, always offering tricks or treats to all who passed by her door, creating happy memories for all our hills kids and families.

Later in life Suzanne was reconnected with her birth mother and siblings. Never one to dwell on the past it was perhaps here that she displayed a level of grace that revealed her loving heart to the fullest.

Our community was all the more enriched by Suzanne’s generosity of spirit and loving care. Hat’s off to you Lady, Bravo.

01/06/2026

01/06/2026

Vale Suzanne O'Conner.

Suzanne passed away gently at 11.43 this morning.

31/05/2026

Managing through the Month of May 2026…

What a complete joy to see our Patron, Noel Cliff back onboard!

Winter has certainly arrived before its time across May. The cold and wet brings with it a very specific set of challenges to keep volunteers and receipents alike safe when dropping off produce, collecting produce or reloading produce boxes for delivery.

Thankfully our surroundings at Olinda Hall remain the cleanest they will ever be with volunteer Mick Hill giving it a complete once over with his trusty blow vac. We certainly arrive at the site seeing that it is welcoming and cared for. Thank you Mick.

Through May we have all been treated to the most magnificent show of colors on full display across our hills landscape of trees. A real treat for the soul and a reminder of why we love and live here.

As usual, our free food programs rocked along with many hands at the ready to offer support. We are currently tracking upwards of x 15 to x 16 volunteers, either collecting produce, sorting produce or making deliveries. That is x 30 hands making program life significantly easier and faster. All working alongside each other doing what needs to be done without any need to ask. These set tasks and routines hum along at a cracking pace with good humor abound.

As with most months, we now see us welcome yet further new faces both volunteers and recipients. New cohorts of demographics have reached out for assistance with food insecurity at the top of the list.

All are treated with respect and compassion from across our teams ensuring that making those first steps towards support are made to feel welcomed within a safe space environment of care.

It never leaves you to see the love and devotion so many hold for their loved ones, almost always mothers and grandmothers, taking those first steps towards our doors to place food on tables.

We are so very proud of our volunteers for always knowing how to welcome newcomers to our program days. Nothing needs to be said, institutively everyone leads from the same heart space of love and care.

The month of May ticked along as every other month tends to do with making the most of our surroundings within the shared space of Olinda Hall.

Our Foodbank Victoria pallet of staples is ordered by Kevin Swalling, invoices are paid by our treasurer Fabian Fillip-Gautier, while our schedules and labels, which we place on care boxes, are generated by Andrew Fillip-Gautier.

Super thanks to the volunteers at Outer East Foodshare (OEFS) for collecting and delivering our Foodbank Victoria staples, dairy and meat products each Friday. The OEFS team whisk down to Foodbank in Dandenong in there little refrigerated van, load up and drop off to us in Olinda. To keep things flowing Kevin Swalling and Mick Hill unload our storeroom in the morning for a clear run access to unload and store Foodbank deliveries. This is all then packed away, once again.

Grateful to our friends at Proserpina Bakehouse - Ferntree Gully for providing end of day produce and bread items which are collected six days per week and delivered to homes by our volunteers.

Thank you to Roslyn Champion, Lucy Murry, Suzanne O’Conner, Casey Pipinis, Fabian and Andrew Fillip-Gautier for collecting and making delivers. The deliveries are always so welcomed by many.

Wednesday evening programs continued to operate across the month as our third program offering for those which are unable to collect earlier in the day. Thank you to volunteers Jennifer Sykes and Casey Pipinis for making it happen.

Any oversupply made their way down to Tecoma Uniting Church - TUC free food pantry. In addition to our weekly deliveries to TUC each Friday would see volunteer Theresa Evans collect from Aldi and deliver to the free food pantry. Thank you ladies.

Phillip Heading collected all our compost for gardening matter across the month. Phil also dropped off any extra produce to Monbulk Open Door, Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Centre, Tecoma Uniting Church and Belgrave Carlotta’s Treasures Opportunity Shop.

Produce gathering across the month of May continued with our produce partners listed below:

Major supporting partners Aldi Monbulk, Bayswater, Ferntree Gully, Seville, Woolworths Monbulk and principal partner, Proserpina Bakehouse.

Any over supplies of bread, bakery items or fruit have made their way to Monbulk Collage, Sassafras, Mount Dandenong and Ferny Creek Primary Schools along with Sherbrooke Community School and Sassafras Pre-school to support free breakfast clubs.

As always, special mention of thanks to the below for extra door-to-door deliveries.

Sharyne Veal, Mel Boxell, Suzanne O’Connor, Rosalind Mackay, Roslyn 2 Champion, Fabian & Andrew Fillip-Gautier and Phillip Heading.

The usual suspects are listed below:

Rosalind Mackay, Tamara & Rohan, Sharyne Veal, Mick Hill, Judy Elliot, Lenora Locatelli, Lisa England, Jared Pipinis, Sue & Bruce Tardif, Julie Ripper, Marg and Keith Rae, Jeff & Di Cremean, Keith Tindall, Jim Green, Pete Green and Vincent Bovo.

Welcome back John Druiven and thank you Maria Druiven for filling the deficit while John was away. Maria continued collecting from Aldi Seville each Monday and Wednesday.

Welcome to new recruits Jen and Mark.

27/05/2026

National Reconciliation Week 2026…

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2026 is All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.

All In makes clear that reconciliation is not a spectator sport and that all of us must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.

The theme also reminds us that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights isn’t a passive activity, and it is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people, who have carried the weight of championing, explaining and acting for far too long.

Reconciliation will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us.

26/05/2026

National Sorry Day…

National Sorry Day takes place annually on May 26. It is a significant day of remembrance across Australia dedicated to acknowledging the painful history and lasting impacts of the Stolen Generations - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families.

The Philanthropic Collective stand together in supporting healing, understanding and cultural pride for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

18/05/2026

We Salute You…

In honor of National Volunteer Week 2026 landmarks and venues across Victoria are invited to light up in red. This annual campaign recognises the tireless efforts of volunteers who enrich our communities, creating a visual tribute to their dedication and care.

We take this time to acknowledge and recognize our most valued resource, our beautiful volunteers. For the past decade we have amassed the most incredible team of individuals within our community.

A collective from a wide range of backgrounds, lived experience and expertise, of all ages, our volunteers come together and remain united to share the gift of LOVE and care for our community.

Together, we have the privilege to create magic through produce capture to micromanage care across our hill’s dwellers. Bridging the gaps found within our own community, organizations, and Governments.

Our volunteers create the energy to make each day much brighter, filling it with hope for the many experiencing significant daily life challenges.

Thank you to all our volunteers past and present, together, you are what creates the magic.

30/04/2026

Active through the month of April…

April, and a new record set this month on multiple days in free food program preparation and set up. We managed to complete deliveries, sorting and creating community care boxes by 09:15, now that’s efficiency off the scales. We managed to pip the post by 2 minutes set at this time last year. Not surprising given we had 15 volunteers at site all working away together without stress and with loads of good humour.

The month that was April was in part absorbed by School Holiday’s and Easter falling on our designated food program days, we thank all our volunteers for making all things possible.

April would see us welcome many new faces both volunteers and recipients alike. Having extra hands onboard makes a huge difference in time and efficiency.

This in turn enables us to provide one-on-one care for new faces to programs days. We know and we see how overwhelming it can be for first time recipients to come through the door. For each person the food insecurity journey differs as do the circumstances, yet the commonality that draws community members together is placing food on tables for those we love.

A new cohort influx of seniors unable to stretch pensions and mums and grandmothers have joined our programs. When lives go belly up for whatever life throws, taking away the fear of not having enough food for the week is one of the ways we quietly make a difference.

Our incredible team of volunteers very quickly dispel any preconceived ideals of what it is to seek support for newcomers. It only takes the first time to be put at ease and welcomed whole heartedly. Witnessing comfort from volunteers to recipients is a true gift and testament to our community all caring for each other.

This month some of our collection points have been given a little shake up in relation to designated collection days. For us it is very simple as we have collected from the same four Aldi stores for over a decade.

Inadvertently other organisations and individuals have collected from our stakeholder produce partners collection points. When this occurs, it equates to a greatly diminished amount of produce gathered to none at all. This in turn creates a ripple effect on many levels, from wasting volunteers time and fuel expense to not having enough produce to share across program days. We would like to thank Sophia Phung - National Sustainability - Aldi Stores for immediately actioning a tailored solution to the situation.

Securing our consistent supply to enable our programs to remain viable is in part greatly due to our relationship with fellow volunteers from Outer East Foodshare (OEFS). Super thanks and gratitude for yet another month of supplies by the pallet load each week ensuring hills kids and community members had food on their tables.

Our thanks to OEFS for collecting and delivering our Foodbank Victoria staples each Friday with special thanks to Kevin Swalling for weekly ordering and Mick Hill for emptying out our storeroom in the morning for a clear run access to unload and store Foodbank deliveries. This ritual is repeated in the afternoon to repack all the infrastructure back into the storeroom at Olinda HQ once the pallet is unloaded.

Thank you to our friends at Proserpina Bakehouse - Ferntree Gully for providing end of day produce and bread items which are collected six days per week and delivered to homes each week by our volunteers. Thank you to Roslyn Champion, Lucy Murry, Suzanne O’Conner, Casey Pipinis, Fabian and Andrew Fillip-Gautier for collecting and making delivers.

Our monthly routine continued with Treasurer, Fabian Fillip-Gautier ensuring immediate payments for our Foodbank account and up-to-date record keeping with balanced books. While schedules continued to be generated, in at times, a complex web of collections and deliveries by Andrew Fillip-Gautier to ensure no one was left behind.

Wednesday evening programs continued to operate across the month catering to anyone who falls through the cracks and is unable to collect care boxes of produce or take-home deliveries due to work commitments. This is always rolled out efficiently by volunteers Jennifer Sykes and Casey Pipinis.

Any over supply is whisked down to Tecoma Uniting Church - TUC free food pantry. In addition to our weekly deliveries to TUC each Friday would see volunteer Theresa Evans collect from Aldi and delivered to the free food pantry. Thank you ladies.

Thank you to Mick Hill for clearing the entire surrounds of Olinda Hall and the sporting courts many times per week. The place continues to look inviting and cared for.

Phillip Heading, our King-of-Compost collected all our compost for gardening matter across the month as well as supplying extra produce to Monbulk Open Door, Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Centre, Tecoma Uniting Church and Belgrave Carlotta’s Treasures Opportunity Shop.

Produce gathering across the month of April continued with our produce partners listed below:
Major supporting partners Aldi Monbulk, Bayswater, Ferntree Gully, Seville, Woolworths Monbulk and principal partner, Proserpina Bakehouse.

Any over supplies of bread, bakery items or fruit have made their way to Monbulk Collage, Sassafras, Mount Dandenong and Ferny Creek Primary Schools along with Sherbrooke Community School and Sassafras Pre-school to support free breakfast clubs.
As always, special mention of thanks to the below for extra door-to-door deliveries.

Sharyne Veal, Mel Boxell, Suzanne O’Connor, Rosalind Mackay, Roslyn 2 Champion, Fabian & Andrew Fillip-Gautier and Phillip Heading.

The usual suspects are listed below:

Rosalind Mackay, Tamara & Rohan, Sharyne Veal, Mick Hill, Judy Elliot, Lenora Locatelli, Lisa England, Jared Pipinis, Sue & Bruce Tardif, Julie Ripper, Marg and Keith Rae, Jeff & Di Cremean, Keith Tindall, Jim Green, Vincent Bovo, Pete Green, Mrak and Jen 2.

John and Maria Druiven continued collecting from Aldi Seville each Monday and Wednesday as well as returning a truck load of empty black flat pack boxes back to Aldi.

Thank you, John and new recruit, Maria.

Extra Special welcome to Janet Paxton back all the way from Bacchus Marsh to offer a helping hand.

20/04/2026

Nothing like our Hills Kids…

Behind the scenes of any given week helping support our volunteers are our junior volunteers and young adults. Many have grown up lending a hand alongside parents or grandparents collecting, sorting and delivering produce across the community.

Always with a willingness to offer time with a smile during school holiday periods to lend a hand. We are so very proud of every one of you; a constant reminder of all that is good in our community with a work ethic like no other. The future looks bright.

Pictured: Veterans, Wilbur Francis, Ivy Sykes, Cami and Syd Higgins, Ava Fillip-Gautier along with young Thomas and Charlie.

Super thanks to Coco Collins, Orlando and Eden Fillip-Gautier for their many hours of service.