No one is alone.

Our vision extends beyond simply providing groceries. From our weekly community pantry open to all, to our Tuesday night free meal programs, we are building a space where community members meet, share resources, and support one another in a dignified, warm environment.

Who We Are

Sapphire Life Opportunities Ltd (SLO) is an initiative of Sapphire Life Church and formalised as a public charity in November 2019. The principal purpose of SLO is to address social isolation in the context of health, social wellbeing and self-esteem, particularly in vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. SLO aims to improve the welfare and self-esteem of vulnerable members of the community by providing opportunities for social connection with the specific purpose of building healthy relationships.

The long term focus for SLO is to establish and operate one or more “Community Squares” that includes the following activities, facilities and services:

- Connection center

- Social justice resource

- Community food bank

SLO is a registered Australian Charity with Tier 1 Deductible Gift Recipient status. That is, SLO’s mission, structure and governance is recognised by the Australian Tax Office and the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission as eligible for Tax Deductible donations.

View Our Annual Report

Our Story

The story behind the charity

A lot of the team that formed Sapphire Life Opportunities have been involved in the Sapphire Coast Community Christmas Day Lunch, which had been running for 7 years before the start of the charity. The idea behind the lunch is that “no one eats alone.”

“The Christmas day lunch is about making sure no one is alone on Christmas, but we always had the thought, how do we do this more than one day a year?” - Janita Fernando, Founding CEO

Sapphire Life Opportunities was born out of that concept, and now rather than it being, “no one eats alone” it's now, “no one is alone.”

During the summer of 2019/20 the Sapphire Coast and surrounding areas were hit by devastating bushfires. During this time, a lot of clothing and food was being donated to the area with no one to process it. Sapphire Life Opportunities was contacted and through that we were able to get a shop front in Merimbula to open a disaster relief center, which eventually turned into our Community Food Pantry.

On the first of February we opened the doors to our shop, and within the first week we had over 400 people come through the doors needing things from food to clothes, to furniture.

Our food pantry is run exclusively by volunteers which allows us to open 5 days a week. We have such an amazing team of volunteers who want to show Love, Grace and Mercy to our community.

Sapphire Life Opportunities was really born out of Sapphire Life Church. So when it came to naming the charity, we always knew it would carry the Sapphire Life name. It shows where we are, and that we are here to bring life through Love, Grace and Mercy. And the word opportunities comes from the fact that we are a charity that isn't bound to helping people in any particular way. So whilst these days we are mostly thought of as a community food pantry, we aren't bound to that. We are committed to addressing social isolation in any way/opportunity we can.

Meet The Team