DIANA Wilkinson of Nambucca Heads saw a post on a local community page about a family who had recently been surprised by the earlier-than-planned birth of their third baby.

They were struggling and overwhelmed with the demands of their young family and work and were using Meal Train, a social calendar website, to ask for meal donations.

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Despite knowing nothing more than an address, a few meal dislikes and numbers of people for the meal, Diana quickly registered and began planning her good deed.

“It’s a case of ‘think global, act local’,” explained Diana.

“As I knocked on the door, I didn’t know what to expect.

“But then the Dad, cradling a tiny newborn, opened the door and gratefully thanked me for the meal, explaining that Mum was asleep.”

Diana may have been a stranger to this family but she is no stranger to Meal Train, having used it herself to organise meals for friends.

The website is easy to navigate and completely free.

According to Diana, some people leave precise instructions like “Try not to wake up Mum and leave the meal on the verandah!”.

This family in Nambucca Heads had opened their Meal Train account up to strangers, potentially a measure of the closeness of the local community, but many other users set up their meals to be ‘invitation only’.

Meal Train launched in 2010 and now is one of several international companies that have set up websites to help people in need of meals to reach out to others.

The site timetables deliveries and allows recipients to nominate likes and dislikes as well as what days they need meals.

Anyone can set one up for someone in need.

“I think it’s great.

“I love to do a bit extra if I can to make my meal really special even if it is for a random family that I don’t even know,” said Diana with a smile.

A search of Meal Train will quickly connect users to the site mentioned in this story or visit www.mealtrain.com.

For privacy reasons, the site is not able to be searched so users need to send a link to their Meal Train to potential donors.

By Ned COWIE