It was a call to undertake a small act of kindness that led Revd Deborah Perreau Deanery Mission Priest Ilminster to team up with the national food retailer COOK to deliver meals to people in need in her community. COOK had advertised for local volunteers during lockdown who could help distribute their prepared meals locally to people who, it was felt, needed a little extra support.
Deborah was well placed not only to help deliver the food, but also to work with her community to identify those who could benefit from such a project. She worked with schools, the Parish Council and her own church community to establish who could benefit from the service.
“It is the families who, because of lockdown, feel disconnected, who haven’t been able to access the support they normally would and have felt lost. It’s been a way to reach out to those people. People who we could support simply by being there on their doorstep, to deliver the food, but also to chat with them. It was a way to approach and support members of our community with kindness and care.”
COOK is a certified B Corp organisation; with a commitment as part of that movement to use business as a force for good with the goal of creating shared and durable prosperity for all.
A year ago, Deborah began collecting the meals from Cook and distributing them to NHS workers families and individuals in the local area. She began by dropping off just a few meals each week, but over time that number expanded and eventually she was working with local groups to deliver almost 200 meals a week.
“It’s about care and kindness, it’s about the Gospel without words. It’s through our love and our care that Jesus is known. It was a real joy and a privilege to be able to do it.”
For a year Deborah worked with the company for a year and has even featured in an online video.