Piece by piece a jigsaw puzzle in Salamander Bay Square is taking shape and helping to deliver meals to domestic violence shelters.
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Dana Irving, marketing manager for Charter Hall, the group that owns the shopping centre, said the response to the 800-piece Delivering Good puzzle wall had been overwhelmingly positive.
“The message behind the wall seems to be resonating with a lot of people,” Ms Irving said.
“We’ve had lots of people sharing their own domestic violence stories, saying they’re survivors. I think people love the cause, love the community feel of it and helping out people in those situations.”
Charter Hall has partnered with social enterprise Two Good for the Delivering Good campaign which is aimed at raising awareness about domestic violence and providing meals to shelters around Australia.
A target of 800 meals has been set for the Salamander Bay centre, which will be delivered to shelters in Port Stephens and Newcastle, but will only be reached if customers help solve a puzzle.
A large jigsaw puzzle has been set up near the food court. Shoppers are asked to pick a puzzle piece out of a box and find its corresponding place on the board.
One piece of the puzzle added to the wall equates to one meal delivered to a shelter.
There is no cost involved with adding a puzzle piece to the wall. But if a shopper picks a golden piece of the puzzle they win a Maggie Beer cookbook. Beer and fellow chef Neil Perry are ambassadors for the campaign.
In the first three days of opening, June 27 to June 29, 16 golden pieces had been found.
“We’ve had a very good response,” Ms Irving said. “The first day we had about 75 pieces added to the wall, the second day about 60 and [Friday] 70 to 75.”
The golden piece which, when selected, will see the shopper walk away with a Blue Water Sailing sunset dining experience valued at $600 has not yet been selected.
Ambassadors will be stationed at the puzzle wall between 10am and 1pm Wednesday to Saturday until the end of the Delivering Good campaign on July 14.
Twenty-six Charter Hall shopping centres across Australia are taking part in the Delivering Good campaign with the aim of delivering 20,000 Two Good meals to shelters by the end.
Since Two Good began its work in late 2016, the organisation has delivered more than 40,000 meals to refuges and shelters, and has established a kitchen in Sydney where domestic violence survivors can train for jobs in hospitality.
