By Violet Li
The Bakhtar Community Warehouse is calling for support through financial aid and material donations, as the demand has risen significantly in the past few months.
Since its establishment in late 2021, the Noble Park warehouse of Bakhtar Community Organisation has impacted the lives of over 6000 newly arrived refugees in South East Melbourne, providing essential household items, clothing, and food vouchers to support their journey in establishing a new home, amounting to an estimated $3 million worth of aid.
In 2023, the warehouse extended its support to individuals at high risk of homelessness, victims of family and domestic violence, and youth.
Chief executive officer Bassir Qadiri said the demand for their services had risen significantly.
“We used to support up to five to 10 families a week. Now that has gone to 25 to 30 families,” he said.
“That’s why we are struggling with deliveries because most of the new arrivals don’t have cars. They don’t have any way of getting their items to their home.
“Our volunteers deliver the items to their homes. But sometimes it costs us if we hire someone else to help us.
“It’s not only the Afghan community that we support. We’re supporting the multicultural community. Recently, we have received some referrals for some Palestinians who have arrived from Gaza.”
Mr Qadiri said though they had always been very grateful for the partnership with more than 30 organisations and charities, particularly the Rotary Club of Balwyn, they were still having financial difficulty at the moment.
“We have never received any funding support from the government,” he said.
The charity organisation would also spend quite a lot of time and energy relocating to its new warehouse in Dandenong, according to Mr Qadiri.
“Dandenong Council is going to knock down the building of our Noble Park warehouse to turn it into a park sometime this year or next year,” he said.
“We are very hopeful that Development Victoria is going to provide us a piece of land opposite Dandenong Station where we could have a warehouse or a one-stop for the community where we could run some courses and as well as job experience opportunities for the job seekers as well as for the new arrivals.
“That space will be something that we’re looking into opening next year probably. It depends on how quickly things move.”
If you would like to help The Bakhtar Community Warehouse, you could reach out to Mr Qadiri on 0435 945 591. Any form of support would be greatly appreciated, whether it’s material aid, food vouchers, or a tax-deductible donation.
