New community stores for Canteen Creek and Epenarra
New community stores in Canteen Creek and Epenarra now have a better range of healthy food options and access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
The communities of Canteen Creek and Epenarra, south-east of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, have new community stores.
The new stores have better access to fresh fruit and vegetables, and more heathy food options are available for the local communities.
The Canteen Creek Owairtilla Aboriginal Corporation and the Wetenngerr Aboriginal Corporation in Epenarra, worked with a building contractor to build the stores and replace old facilities.
Local Indigenous workers were also employed to work with the building contractor to construct the stores and local artists painted the logo on the new store in Canteen Creek.
Chairperson of the Wetenngerr Store Corporation in Epenarra, Julie Petersen, was at the opening of the new community store.
“I like the new store, the people here are happy. There are better things in the new store, there’s more range and choice,” Julie said.
The old store in Epenarra wasn’t able to provide hot meals. The new facilities and kitchen means that toasted sandwiches and other hot food can now be produced for the community.
“We don’t have to go to Tennant Creek now because we have the big cool room in Epenarra. I like the new kitchen and the hot food,” Julie said.
The two stores were possible through a $4.3 million grant from the Australian Government’s Aboriginals Benefit Account.
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The Aboriginals Benefit Account provides one-off grant funding (non-recurrent funding) proposals that benefit Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory.