A GIANT rainbow caravan will brighten Wodonga on Friday nights as part of a community effort to help the less fortunate.

Carevan will begin its weekly operation in the city tonight for the first time at the Lutheran Church in Havelock Street, where volunteers will be serving hot meals to the disadvantaged and homeless.

The van serves more than 300 meals a week, and with the addition of the Wodonga service, operators believe they will serve up to 500 meals a week across the Border by the end of the year.

Carevan chief executive Di Mant said she hoped the Wodonga service would continue its weekly visits for as long as it was needed.

“It will be every Friday from 6.15pm until 7.30pm and it will be forever,” Ms Mant said.

“The only week we don’t operate is the week of Christmas.”

The van has been operating four nights a week in Albury for the past four years.

Carevan is a private foundation that relies on fund-raisers and the generosity of the community to stay in service.

It is able to operate with the assistance of 400 volunteers who have all had food hand- ling training and are rostered once a month in teams to serve meals.

Those who use the van receive a hot meal, fruit, tea, coffee and Milo.

Ms Mant said the service offered by the van went beyond food.

“We serve up meals like casseroles, a tossed salad and a bread roll,” she said.

“We also provide an additional meal for people to take home, as well as two small toiletry packs for both male and females, and street swags for people who are homeless.”

Carevan works with Albury Wodonga Regional Food Share, which provides the bulk of the ingredients, and Border secondary school students, who cook meals under a Kids Cooking and Caring program.

The program gives students the opportunity to learn about volunteering and those who are less fortunate than themselves.

Ms Mant said volunteers liked to create an individual experience for each person who visited the van.

“We take chairs and tables for people to sit on, our volunteers will sit down with the clients to make it a personal experience,” she said.

“We really welcome people to come along and have a meal.”