Community & Business
7 December, 2023
Oakey Community BBQ wraps up for year
Thousands of sausages, hundreds of water bottles and a similar number of sweet treats have been served thanks to PCYC and the Oakey Christian Leaders Network at Oakey Community BBQ this year.
Kat Medland, PCYC Youth Co-ordinator said she was very happy with the impact the program was having in the community.
“It’s been very, very good,” she said.
“It’s something that other small, rural towns don’t have.
“The volunteers are the ones that make it - they’re always there, always helping out.
“It’s got to a point where (AJ and I) just talk to young people and they take out of it.
“These people care about the community so much.
“It’s good because they’re been in the community their whole life.
“Over the decades, they’ve seen things change.
“Who best to know about the town than these people?”
Kat said the volunteers are able to provide support for those who may not have a lot at home.
“I’ve seen a few of the young kids who don’t have grandparents will come up and ask the volunteers for advice,” she said.
“Quite often they’ll go to the same person each week.
“Sometimes it’s even the young mothers who’ll come up and talk with the older women.”
Kat said she is asked often if the barbecue will be on during the holidays (it’s not).
“The kids notice when it’s not on,” she said.
“We’ll definitely be back next year.”
The Oakey Christian Leaders Network provides most of the volunteers.
Roster co-ordinator Lesley Hughes said the churches became involved when the future of the Oakey Connect PCYC program was clouded.
“We stepped in when they looked like they were going to lose funding,” she said.
“We thought - ‘we can’t do the boxing, but we can keep this going’.“
Thankfully, New Hope was able to step in and fund PCYC Oakey Connect.
Reflecting on the event, Lesley said the barbecue has become more community focused.
“I think it’s grown so it’s a family event rather than just a kids event,” she said.
“Some people come for the fun of it.
“Some people come along for a free feed and that’s okay, too!”
Local businesses also see the value in supporting the event.
“Shawry always gives us the first bag (of sausages),” Lesley said.
“One of the ladies who works at Bou Samra (in Harristown) brings along 3kg of chopped onion.”
The barbecue is becoming noticed outside of Oakey and Lesley said she’s fielded questions about it at grant workshops in Toowoomba.
Volunteer Cheryl Mirtschin from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Oakey said she’d been asked unprompted about the barbecue at a church conference.
“I said I was from Oakey and this lady said ‘doesn’t Oakey do the barbecue?’,” she said.
Fellow volunteer June Evans from St. Augustine’s Anglican Church Oakey said she’d received positive feedback from a visitor.
“A person visited from another town said they’d love to take it back there,” she said.
The Community BBQ is a join initiative of PCYC Oakey Connect, funded by New Hope Group, and the Oakey Christian Leaders Network, who have been supported in their efforts this year by the Oakey Community Care Committee.
