Community & Business
15 June, 2026
Supporting those in need
Toowoomba not-for-profit organisation Loaves and Fishes has committed to visiting Oakey with $65 food hampers on a monthly basis thanks to the initiative of local resident and volunteer Cheryle Baker.
Oakey is a town where our average resident earns $126 less than the ordinary Queenslander, according to the 2021 Census.
Some residents do their little bit here and there to ease the pressure of the cost of living.
Cheryle Baker, who houses 13 of her own family members who are unable to find a place to rent in their own town, knows the effects of cost of living pressures all too well.
That’s one of the reasons she volunteers at the Munch’n’Crunch at Oakey Community Christian Church on Friday nights and why she also recently became a volunteer with not-for-profit organisation Loaves and Fishes in Toowoomba.
Loaves and Fishes sells $65 hampers, full of dry pantry items, fruit and vegetables, frozen goods, and bread. The hampers have a retail value of $200.
It also runs a ‘Hampers Go Bush’ program regularly visiting places like Mitchell, St. George, Millmerran Downs, and Goondiwindi.
Cheryle knew that ‘Hampers Go Bush’ would provide financial respite to many in Oakey and asked Loaves and Fishes if they would visit. They agreed.
“Needs are getting greater,” she said.
“There’s a lack of available transport for senior people to go to Toowoomba and access cheaper food for shopping.
“It’s a good opportunity to get some bargain food.”
Loaves and Fishes’ first visit took place last Thursday morning at the BP Roadhouse in the car park outside Ushers kitchen.
The visit proved there was a demand for such a service.
Despite no more publicity than social media word of mouth 30 hampers were sold to young families and the elderly.
Loaves and Fishes directors Kylie and Michael Jennings know Oakey well, having raised their family here.
Kylie and Michael started volunteering in 2015 and have risen up to become directors, Kylie serving as CEO and Site Manager at the Newtown base, and husband Michael there as her 2IC and truck driver.
Loaves and Fishes is well supported by volunteers including Work for the Dole participants.
“We’re very grateful for the help and support from staff and volunteers,” Kylie said.
“We’ve got a few volunteers that come in to 106 Hill Street, including two ladies from the church here.
“I’d also like to give a shout out to Second Bite who donate items to us for free.”
One local volunteer called in to help at BP on the day was Adam Gough who carried hampers back and forth from the truck.
Adam used to volunteer five days a week at Loaves and Fishes, riding his push bike from Oakey to Toowoomba each day.
A chequered legal record means he is a more sporadic helper these days but circumstances meant, “they were finally able to find a use for me!”, as Adam put it.
“We call him ‘The Machine’ or ‘Mighty Mouse” Kylie said.
“He just goes and goes.”
Encouraged that there is a clear need in Oakey for cheap food hampers, Loaves and Fishes has committed to visiting Oakey on the first Thursday morning of each month from 8.30am-12pm at the Ushers Kitchen car park.
That’s not stopping Cheryle though, who now wants to start a community pantry where people can donate food items into a cupboard in a central place in Oakey.
She has been inspired by an example in Highfields, where the initiative of local business Survival Seeds led to the founding of the ‘Survival Pantry’ on the corner of Clark and O’Brien Roads.
Government statistics show that Australian households waste 2.5 million tonnes of food each year, or more than four kilograms per household per week. Organic material makes up half of what Queenslanders throw away each week.
“At the moment, I’ve been to the Men’s Shed and they are going to build me a cupboard,” Cheryle says.
“I’m going to approach Michael at the Tavern. I want to position it on the footpath right near the Courthouse.
“It’s in good view of the community, and then they can come and get what they need.
“People can put food there that they don’t need.”
Cheryle says the potential negatives of the system would be far outweighed by the positives.
“Ring me on 0437 572 999 or contact me on Facebook if you’d like to help,” she said.
