Toowoomba schoolgirls Radhika and Krishnapriya Bhardwaj have spent the past fortnight cooking and packaging meals for those at the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis.
Radhika, 13, and Krishnapriya, 9, were taken out of classes by their parents, who said the grateful response from those receiving the food had motivated them to keep going.
It is not the first time the family has cooked for others during times of stress.
They aslo provided up to 1,000 meals a day for rural firefighters during the summer bushfires.
"We realised it was time to pull up our sleeves and do what we knew best: to distribute love through food," said their father, Sid Bhardwaj.
The girls even received a thank you letter from the local health service after delivering meals to emergency department staff at the Toowoomba hospital.
"They need us," Krishnapriya said.
"We need to get behind them and support them."
"All we made was a humble Bengali khichuri," Mr Bhardwaj said.
"But everyone loved it. That letter really blew the kids away.
"There was a spring in their walk, so to speak, because next day they were extra motivated to work even harder."
Generosity, altruism a family affair
Proud of his children's daytime cooking efforts, Mr Bhardwaj is not worried about classes they may have missed in the past fortnight.
"I always tell my kids I don't want school get in the way of their education," he said.
"We've done rice pilaf, chickpeas with rice, pulses with rice — just the things we've been able to secure from the market."
Finding ingredients has been a challenge for the young home cooks, after panic buying meant supermarkets were emptied of many staple foods.
"We have seen the worst that difficult times can bring out," Mr Bhardwaj said.
"Every night we sit together as a family, we discuss what's going on around us.
"We asked the girls, 'What do you think we should do?'"
Mr Bhardwaj manages a Toowoomba service station, and says he was given permission to use the cold room to store the meals.
"Every day we are coming across new people; people that lost their jobs, people who are living in vans, people who are unemployed, single mums with kids, people in quarantine," he said.
"People are also coming in to donate food also, and we really appreciate that."
Girls cooked 1,000 meals a day
Mr Bhardwaj said the family stood ready to help even more people if needed.
"The girls have cooked up to 1,000 meals in a day before, during the bushfires, and can do so again if called upon," he said.
"I really believe now is not the time to be selfish."
Mr Bhardwaj says he has some simple advice for people who may not be quite up for cooking hundreds of meals.
"What about your next door neighbour?" he said.
"What about the person you met in the park?
"Go out with a smile, say hello to people from a safe distance, but just make everyone feel comfortable around you because these are uncertain times."
