For some of us, Christmas Day is incredibly lonely.
“On Christmas Day, I find you really notice the empty seats,” Mel Kypri, Founder and President of Mowana, told Manly Observer.
After recently losing her brother, who passed away at 52, her nephew, who passed away at 19, and her mum, Ms Kypri didn’t think she could do Christmas. And realised others might feel the same way.
The idea for a community Christmas lunch, aimed at those who feel lonely, suffering financial hardship or looking for a way to volunteer on the day, started with 30 people in 2023 at the Mind Café in Narrabeen.
Last year, it grew substantially to 90 people at the Lakeview Hall at the Tramshed Arts and Community Centre in Narrabeen.
So far, she has 25 RSVPs for this year’s lunch; however, she’s expecting the number to surpass the room limit of 100 people. She’s purchased takeaway containers, not only for people to take leftovers home, but in case there are more people than seats, they can enjoy their Christmas lunch in the nearby park.
“The youngest I have registered is a six-year-old (with their family), and the oldest would be in their 80s,” she said.
“A lot of our volunteers are lonely themselves, and they want to help, be part of the community, and they have nowhere else to go on the day.”
Volunteers help by decorating the hall and prepping the food, which includes all the staple Christmas dishes like prawns, turkey, ham, roast potatoes, salads and of course, mini pavs for dessert.
“Our local Woolworths stores in Narrabeen, Warriewood and Mona Vale supply all our food,” Ms Kypri explained.
“They let us go into their stores with a few trolleys and we can choose whatever we want, even the best brands.
“I really want to recognise them for helping their local community.”
How you can still help
While the food is covered, and Ms Kypri said their volunteer register is full, they still need financial help to cover costs like room hire, insurance, Christmas decorations, ice (as the venue doesn’t have a fridge), presents for the kids, etc.
For $25, you can essentially buy a Christmas lunch for someone doing it tough.
Ms Kypri needs to raise $4,000, and at the time of publication, the GoFundMe is at $1,665.
If you can donate to MoWaNa here.
Image: Mowana Instagram Page
What is Mowana?
Three years ago, Ms Kypri started Mowana as a peer-led, community-based service to support people who are experiencing emotional or suicidal distress; however, it’s morphed into a place where people can access support before they’re at the crisis point.
“We are there if someone is feeling suicidal, and at that crisis point, but doesn’t want to go to hospital, but we are also there if someone is feeling lonely, and those are the people we see the most,” she explained.
Mowana stands for Mona Vale, Warriewood and Narrabeen, and began because Ms Kypri noticed a lack of drop-in mental health services in the area.
Out of the Mind Café in Narrabeen, trained volunteers with lived experience of suicide and mental health are available for a chat on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 5pm to 9pm. They also run “Coffee with Kindness” on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 8:30am to 11am
“We see about eight to nine people every night we are open,” she added.
This year, they’ve had 1,400 people access their service, with October being their busiest month with 152 people accessing support. Over 52 mental-health intervention and suicide prevention trained volunteers are registered for the shifts.
“I’d love to be open every night of the week, because you never know when someone might need support,” Ms Kypri said.
“And in the future, I’d love a community centre, with different services the community can access and come together to help and learn from each other.”
Mowana is entirely volunteer-run and relies on financial donations to pay for rent. If you’d like further information on how to support Mowana, please go here.
