Food for the stomach and soul

C3 Langford
Loyal. Selfless. Generous

For six years, C3 Langford’s volunteer head cook Anita Quistini-Ross has carefully prepared free three-course sit-down dinners that fill bellies and provide a feeling of community for more than 200 guests.

Everyone is welcome at the Love Lanford dinners. Guests include struggling families, migrants who are not eligible for government assistance and lonely seniors. People find a sense of family and somewhere to belong.

Over the years, Anita and her fellow volunteers have provided more than 40,000 meals. Not even COVID-19 could stop them. They cooked food for delivery to people’s homes throughout the shutdown.

Anita feels joy that the many hours she volunteers means children can go to bed with a full stomach, and there are leftovers from dinner to take to school the next day.

One of her best rewards is when she helps a person develop job skills and turn their life around, and they return as a volunteer.

Anita feels grateful to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “I have never done any of this work to be recognised and feel overwhelmed with gratitude that I have been able to give back to a community that I love.”

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. C3 Langford will replace its unreliable second-hand fridge with new commercial equipment that will help it keep up with demand to feed the hungry.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here