Supporting People
Meet Ben, one of the wonderful young people employed by Green Connect.
Ben joined our team in 2021 after moving to the Illawarra from Sydney because of deteriorating mental health, severe anxiety, and burnout from a busy gardening job.
In the beginning, the casual work we offered allowed Ben to simply keep a roof over their head. Since then, thanks in part to the support and varied work experience gained with us, Ben’s skills, confidence, and work readiness have grown enormously. Ben now works regularly in every Green Connect business arm, including in Zero Waste, Gardening & Landscaping, Staffing Solutions, Op Shops, and Fair Food, including veg box deliveries.
Ben loves working at Green Connect because the work and people are diverse, and values aligned. They also love the feeling of being part of something special. Ben is also keen to transition into a stable, mainstream employment and is well on the way to achieving that thanks to a fortuitous encounter with a veg box customer during a delivery shift recently.
Jack’s family has been ordering veg boxes from Green Connect for many years and Jack always loves having a chat with our delivery drivers. When Ben met Jack, they hit it off immediately. After conversations and encouragement from Jack’s family, Ben has now completed training as a disability support worker and is employed to work with Jack 2 days per week. Ben is gaining valuable skills whilst enjoying himself immensely as he and Jack do fun activities like gardening, swimming and creative projects. Ben is planning to continue in the field and take on more disability clients soon.
We are thrilled to see Ben thriving in their employment outside of Green Connect and are touched by how different members of our community have come together to support each other in such a beautiful way.
Thank you for purchasing a veg box from Green Connect and making it possible for us to employ and support amazing young people like Ben.
Enjoy!
Lindsay Burlton
Fair Food Coordinator
In your box on Wednesday 26 April 2023:
In your box on Tuesday 18 April 2023:
Note: We sometimes need to make changes to what we pack in your veg box based on the quantity or quality of produce that we can harvest and source. If you have any questions about what is in your box, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
Feature Veg: Sweetcorn (26 April)
Sweetcorn, also known as corn on the cob, is composed of tightly packed golden kernels (always an even number) crammed against each other along an inner core. As sweetcorn grows it naturally produces almost twice the amount of sugar as field corn which is what makes it so delightfully sweet to bite into. It can be eaten raw, grilled, boiled, steamed, added to salads and so much more. Eat it fresh for as much flavour as possible!
Feature Veg: Zucchini (18 April)
Zucchini is a type of summer squash, belonging to the Cucurbit family, which also includes cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons. Small ones are called courgettes, large ones are called marrows. They have a very mild sweet flavour and absorb the flavour of whatever they are cooked with. Eat them raw with dip or in salad, or bake them, sauté them, grate them into fritters, fried rice, pasta bakes, or sweet bread, and much more!
