When Serena Gamble makes a commitment, it’s as good as a cast iron guarantee.
But she doesn’t give an undertaking lightly. This can-do character first makes a thorough yet lightning-fast mental calculation that translates into meaningful multitasking supercharged with accuracy and her trademark positivity.
Serena’s common response is often ‘yes’ because she makes herself personally responsible for the outcome, or she leans on a band of family, friends and volunteers who have earned her trust.
After many years growing up in group foster care as a child, it’s the fact she can trust anyone that is the real surprise, and the Cockburn community is the fortunate beneficiary of her selflessness and commitment to helping others.
Serena is the driving force behind Community Collective Hamilton Hill Incorporated, which has provided food, groceries and household supplies to a monthly average of 3,500 individuals for the past three months alone.
With her steadfast supporters, husband Owen and their three children, Serena has been responsible for helping people from all walks of life put food on the table for nearly a decade. She is undeniably Quintessentially Cockburn.
The former chef manager, now fulltime volunteer charity administrator, was named Cockburn’s 2026 Volunteer of the Year at a celebratory City event on 23 May.
Serena previously ran a Feed It Forward food charity from the driveway of the family home in Hamilton Hill for seven years before forming the new charity and winning a tender to operate from the City of Cockburn’s Southwell Community Centre 18 months ago.
Her motivation for helping has deep roots in Christchurch, NZ where she spent 11 years in foster care with around 100 other children, after her family broke apart.
She eventually received support to leave NZ to reunite with her dad in Perth as a 14-year-old but after two unsuccessful years of trying to reconnect, Serena was taken under the wing of Owen’s parents Ron and Elaine who were seasoned foster carers.
Serena and Owen met as 16-year-old students at John Curtin Senior High School (now John Curtin College of the Arts) and have been inseparable ever since.
“Owen’s dad, who has now passed away, spent many hard years at Christian Brothers boys’ homes and he understood me immediately,” Serena said.
“I spent years sharing clothes, shoes, toys, dolls, even baths as a foster child. That’s why I get the need to be independent and I work hard to make that possible for all people, whether they are homeless, struggling with bills or going through a rough patch.
“I took a chance to come to WA to try to make a new life with my dad and although that didn’t work out, I always try to give people a second chance. I do see the positives despite the difficulty of my own early life.
“I’ve been able to re-establish relationships with my mother and sister, and while I did share with them how foster care affected me, I have been able to use those experiences to help others, because I know how it feels to lose everything.”
Serena said her life experience also showed her that blood ties do not determine who becomes your real family.
“The community I have around me is an incredible group of positive people who really care about each other and those who are down on their luck. I’ll help anyone if I can,” Serena said.
“Me coming to Perth and eventually meeting Owen was meant to be. I joined a big family and I never had that, and our own kids have been hands on with the charity since they were young; for us helping others is normal.”
Serena spends about 45 hours a week volunteering for the food charity which saves at least five tonnes of good quality food from landfill every week.
She picks up food deliveries multiple times a day six days a week and spends all Sunday at the Pantry Door as people from all over Perth line-up for an average of 30 minutes, rain, hail or shine, to gather vital food they can no longer afford to buy.
Serena has a half day off every Saturday and cherishes her nights at home with family but is driven to help others in a building that has replaced a garrison of gazebos she and her team erected in their front yard every week.
“We don’t ask people what their circumstances are but we do record basic stats like what suburbs people come from and we have clients from as far away as Mandurah and Forrestfield. One lady catches two buses to get here, others carpool.
“During all the years we operated from our front yard, our neighbours were so supportive of what we were doing and now, having a building of our own is a real blessing for those that use the service.
“We are incredibly thankful for the support we’ve always received from the City, which now includes a peppercorn rental agreement, and lots of help and guidance to gain incorporation, and the completion and submission of official paperwork to get us where we are today.”
The charity now receives weekly deliveries from Oz Harvest and acts as a network hub for other food charities, with CCHH also providing crunch and sip donations to Perth primary schools, donations for Freo Street Kitchen, charities in Melville and supplying emergency food hampers.
Serena first experienced the generosity of a local food charity run by some Kiwi nannas while sourcing a Christmas hamper for an ailing uncle.
“Then they did out a call out for volunteers. It began with helping out on weekends and gradually grew to doing regular food pick-ups until I was juggling a fulltime chef manager role with volunteering six days a week,” she said.
“I’m not one for exercise classes, or coffee catchups. I need to be useful to people, that’s what makes me happy.”
Caption: L-r Regular Community Collective Hamilton Hill volunteers Karen and Benji (6) Traylen with Owen and Serena Gamble with Chase Eldridge (12).
Article and images by Michele Nugent
Media & Communications Advisor
City of Cockburn
Telephone: 9411 3551
Email:
[email protected]