Across neighbourhoods and country towns, a quiet kind of kindness is taking root - neighbours meeting neighbours, sharing food, and lending a hand through Box Divvy, a community-powered grocery network that connects people directly with each other. Unlike supermarket shopping, Box Divvy members pick up their produce from a neighbour’s garage or carport – the local “Hub” – creating small but meaningful connections every week. Through these simple exchanges, members get to know one another, notice when someone might be struggling, and often find ways to help.Box Divvy members purchase together in bulk and can customise their orders, which often results in a few extras. Sometimes those extras are shared, and other times members intentionally add more so there’s enough to give to others.At some Hubs, that care has grown into what are known as Kindness Boxes – boxes of fresh fruit, vegetables and pantry staples donated by members and shared with people or families doing it tough. The idea is simple: each member adds an extra item or two from their regular order before it’s passed on to someone nearby or to a local charity supporting people in need. Boxes are donated to what resonates locally, for example:Quakers Hill, NSW, members give to families through Wesley Mission’s Quakers Hill Family Centre.Rankin Park, NSW, boxes go to Ronald McDonald House, Mums Cottage and Survivors R Us.Bowral, NSW, donations support Can Assist, which helps locals undergoing cancer treatment, and Pop In at Moss Vale, which assists women and children experiencing domestic violence.Fraser, ACT, donations are shared with the Cato Place Pantry in Dunlop.North Croydon, VIC, kindness boxes go to members that might be doing it tough and unable to order that week.Cheryl Thomas runs the Box Divvy Hub in Quakers Hill, which services around 60 families. She reminds her community each week that kindness doesn’t have to be complicated.“Every Thursday I remind our Hub members to add a piece of produce. "Most weeks we put together a really generous, heavy box that often goes to local charities like Wesley Mission’s Quakers Hill Family Centre or a Ukrainian household that takes in people from overseas. "Other times it’s clear a member or another local family could use a hand, and we’ll quietly make sure the box goes their way. It’s such a simple thing, but it brings people together and reminds us how much we all look out for one another.”These gestures mean more than a grocery top-up. Nearly one in three Australians say they feel lonely at least once a week, while one in four households experiences some level of food insecurity.Independent research by Western Sydney University and the University of Wollongong found that joining Box Divvy helps turn those trends around — with members reporting a drop in food insecurity from 51 per cent to 28 per cent. The findings show how Box Divvy’s shared-ownership model, where neighbours pool orders online to buy from mostly Australian suppliers at fair prices, not only makes good food more affordable, but also builds stronger, more connected communities.Box Divvy co-founder Jayne Travers-Drapes said the Kindness Boxes reflect the model’s deeper purpose.“Box Divvy was built around the idea of neighbours meeting neighbours — not just to share affordable, good food, but to look out for one another,” Jayne said. “In a world where so many people feel disconnected, these small acts of generosity show how powerful local connection can be, people supporting their farmers, their community, and each other.”For Cheryl, it’s simply part of what makes the Hub special.“It’s lovely to see people thinking of others while they’re collecting their own food,” she said. “It reminds us how connected we are as a community — and how food is one of the simplest ways to show you care.”
