Free hot coffee and fresh wraps on the menu at Orana Support Service's youth-run food van in Dubbo

On Thursday, a group of students from Dubbo College Delroy Campus, Dubbo College South Campus and Skillset Senior College brushed up their barista skills ready to serve free coffee and fresh food to the public as part of a job-ready skills program run by the Orana Support Service.

"We're training them in food-hygiene and barista skills to help them to get a part-time job in the hospitality industry, And as well as the training, we want to give the students on-the-job experience, " Orana Support Service project manager Ana Pateman told the Daily Liberal.

"We have a fantastic food van decked-out as a commercial kitchen on wheels and we've just had a coffee machine installed in there. So the students will be able to practise their customer service, coffee making skills and food handling skills."

The food van will open on Monday the 13^th of March and will run every weekday until Easter from 10:30am to 2:00pm. Each week, the youth running the van will create a new menu of free food offerings to cook up and serve to the public.

"To get the students started for the first week we're just doing sandwiches and wraps - so each group of students will be serving tea, coffee, sandwiches and wraps and it will be free for anyone to come along and grab a bite to eat," Ms Pateman said.

"Then once students have got used to the van and seen everything in it they're going to decide on the menu. Already, one group wants to make egg and bacon rolls and another wants to cook up some gourmet hot dogs."

"We'll be advertising each week what will go on the menu for the following week."

Ms Patemen said the food van project was not only a good way for the youth to build their job skills, but would also provide high quality food to people doing it tough.

She encourages everyone in the community to come by and support the students' efforts when the van gets up-and-running next week.

"We've already put the message out to all the NDIS providers and not-for-profits in Dubbo if they've got clients they want to bring along. And we'll also put an invite out to all the nursing homes too," she said.

For more information about the food truck and to keep up with the menu's changes, follow Orana Support Service's Facebook page.

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