Tess first joined our team as our Market Manager of Fitzroy and Heidelberg West in September 2019. Her skills, knowledge and energy soon became invaluable and it wasn’t long before she became our General Manager in February of 2020!
It’s truly difficult to summarise all that Tess has done in her four years with us. In addition to always greeting our team, customers and wider community with a huge smile and can-do attitude, there is a mammoth amount of work that she has done behind the scenes to make our organisation what it is today. Tess directed five groups of university placement students, secured countless grants of various sizes for our organisation, conducted feasibility studies for new markets and other projects and oversaw over 500 markets which have served over 18,000 customers. Tess has also stepped in on countless occasions to help out at these markets, whether it be delivering Fruit & Veggie Box orders, serving customers, or assisting with the set up or pack down of our markets.
As we’re all well aware, navigating COVID-19 was a challenge no one foresaw, but Tess adjusted to all the twists and turns of the pandemic with grace, and ensured that our team, customers and community were all well looked after and felt safe attending our markets.
In 2020 Tess was a huge force in facilitating the provision of 1000 Fruit & Veggie Boxes for residents living in the Public Housing Estates under lockdown, in partnership with Moving Feast. These boxes were filled with fresh, culturally appropriate fruit and vegetables for residents that was familiar to them, that they could prepare ensuring access to nutritious food
Tess was also integral in developing our Grocer Gift Community Partnership Program, an innovative web-based voucher program that allows recipients to access food relief in a more discrete and accessible way, addressing the overwhelming need for a sustainable and dignified way to access nutritious food for people experiencing disadvantage. After being piloted in Fitzroy and Carlton in 2020, this program then came to Pakenham in 2021.
After having to close our Pakenham Market due to COVID complications, Tess was back on the ground with our team on Day One of Pakenham’s reopening in October 2021. She was also interviewed for ABC RN Life Matters about our model out at our Pakenham Market. You can listen to the piece on ABC Life Matters’ website or download here.
Tess was also behind the generous grant we received from City of Melbourne to re-open our Carlton Market in November 2022, after having to close due to the pressures of COVID-19.
We are so grateful for the time we had with Tess and for all that she brought to The Community Grocer. We wish her all the best in her new adventures! 💚