Feast for Freedom 2024

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ARSC) is a non-for-profit human rights organisation that provides vital support for refugeees and asylum-seekers in Australia. In March you’re encouraged to sign up as an official host for its annual Feast for Freedom fundraiser.

Signing up as a host sets you up with two new menus, plus hit recipes from previous years. Guests can RSVP on your dedicated fundraising page, flag dietary requirements and most importantly, donate. Your Feast Kit even includes conversation cards to prompt discussions surrounding the issues and challenges asylum-seekers face. Plus, if you make a hosting donation of over $25 dollars, you’ll receive a tea-towel designed by refugee artist Elrica Jasmine.

This year, Harchana, a cook team leader at ASRC Catering who’s in the process of becoming a chef, is sharing some of her beloved Malaysian dishes. There’s tauhu sumbat (fried tofu stuffed with vegetables), and ayam masak merah (chicken in a spicy tomato sauce) with ghee rice and cucumber pickle. Dessert is a mung bean and coconut cream pudding, with Harchana’s pro-tip of tying the pandan leaves into a knot to release more flavour.

The second menu is Venezuelan and designed by Reveka, who fled the country after being targeted for speaking out as a student journalist. Her menu is nostalgic, representing her family’s geographical spread and shared memories. There’s plantain chips common to coastal areas, arepas (stuffed corn-dough pockets) her grandma’s dulce de leche cortada dessert and a refreshing sugar cane lemonade to sip.

There’s no rules to hosting: you can pull from the 2024 Venezuelan, Malaysian or past years’ recipes, sketch up your own menu or arrange a pot-luck. You can even make it a community, workplace or business event, with the Feast for Freedom website offering tips for each option.

The event officially runs from March 18–24, but you can choose whenever works for you, as long as it’s before the April 30. Your participation will help fund community meals, stock families’ pantries, fund English for Work classes, and create successful visa applications, among other programs.

feastforfreedom.org.au