KATRINA BRANDON
BY KATRINA BRANDON
IT’S a one stop shop for services within our community. Salvation Army Morwell is holding a Community Service Expo on Wednesday, October 18 from 10am to 3pm. “We wanted to provide something for the community so that they could come see different services available in one place,” Salvation Army event organiser, Lenore Pack, said. “So that if there was something that they needed they could connect then and there. “What we have discovered is that people don’t realise what is available to help them. It might not just be about getting financial assistance but just what services can help them with whatever they need. “We have found that if people have never been in a situation where they have needed help, they just don’t know what is out there until that time. We are finding that people are needing access to different services and we are hoping the expo can bring that for our community.” The day will have many services with some such as NDIS help, financial aid, employment agencies and much more. Even Bunnings is supplying help to the event, with face painting for younger children who are too young to be in school. Ms Pack told the Express that the idea of an expo had been so positive with local services that they have had to turn some away due to lack of space in their venue. “We have great responses from different services throughout the Gippsland area, especially Latrobe. Everybody as soon as we told them jumped on board, we had no problems. We have got 32 services. We had to cut off due to space,” Ms Pack said. Salvation Army event planner, Maya Bennett, said that if lots of people turn up, they may be able to do this as a regular event so that people can continue to learn about these services. In the future, Ms Pack and Ms Bennett are hoping that they could possibly run it in a larger event space so that they can allow more services to attend and don’t have to turn anyone away. The Morwell Salvation Army is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10am to 2pm, with phone assistance available at any time. The Community Service Expo is being held at 57 Bridle Rd, Morwell, at the main Salvation Army building.
