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$200,000 GRANT

Friendship Cafe on the way

The Friendship Bakery – a project of the Sydney Friendship Circle – won the NSW government $200,000 My Community Project grant in the Vaucluse electorate last week.

By Sophie Deutsch September 10, 2019, 8:58 pm Edit
Friendship Bakery members Jonty (left) and Mikey hard at work in the kitchen. Photo: Ingrid Shakenovsky
Friendship Bakery members Jonty (left) and Mikey hard at work in the kitchen. Photo: Ingrid Shakenovsky

A CAFE providing meaningful employment for young adults with a disability will soon be operational after the Friendship Bakery won the NSW government $200,000 My Community Project grant in the Vaucluse electorate last week.

“The cafe will be a centralised place where people with a disability in the community can interact and be involved with the customers,” remarked Chana Kavka, who co-founded the Sydney Friendship Circle with her husband, Rabbi Sender Kavka.

“Regardless of ability everyone feels a sense of satisfaction when they are contributing,” she said. “The idea is that every person can build up skills at any point in their life and they can be involved.”

The Friendship Bakery – a project of the Sydney Friendship Circle – currently operates out of Jesse’s Bakery, but the cafe will run as a separate enterprise, possibly on Bondi Road or elsewhere in the electorate.

“What is really important is that people with a disability are involved and engaged in all parts of the process in a way that they get exposure to the whole business cycle,” Rabbi Kavka commented, extending gratitude to Jesse Meguideche, who has “been phenomenal in supporting the project”.

The Friendship Bakery has already yielded numerous positive effects, spurring the new development. “Young people with a disability have reported increases in self-confidence that have spilled out into all parts of their lives, from having the confidence to start a new course at TAFE to experiencing a general sense of satisfaction and accomplishment,” said Chana Kavka. 

“When someone enjoys the fruits of your labour it’s very satisfying.”

As well as benefiting people with a disability, the Friendship Circle helps to shift attitudes towards people with a disability.

Sophie Levy, who sat on the advisory committee for the cafe, commented, “In everything that the Friendship Circle does, we are hoping to create a spark, and that people will end up becoming more inclusive after seeing how people with a disability are very capable individuals.”

For the Friendship Circle team, it’s a dream come true.

“We’ve been investigating this concept for a number of years – we visited places in Melbourne and America and it’s always been very exciting to see their ideas,” remarked Chana Kavka.

“We were really excited and jumping for joy in the office.”

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