CHOPPING carrots, kneading dough and packing meals for home delivery, a group of friends have spent countless hours cooking up a storm of stews in the kitchen to raise money for Palestine.
The death toll continues to climb with at least 9770 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 after more than 1400 Israelis were killed in Hamas' attack.
When 35 year-old Ren Ausburn was scrolling herself into sadness on social media, exposed to images of grief and despair of a conflict-stricken Gaza, she wanted to do something about it.
"I felt like I needed to put the phone down and put my anger and sadness into something instead of squashing them down and ignoring what was happening," she said.
"It was just crushing watching this happening and feeling pretty helpless."
Ms Ausburn went shopping for ingredients, posted on social media and began making homemade stews to drop off to people's houses across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
"We have a big list of addresses and have been dropping meals off into the evening," she said.
In two weeks she has raised $2500, selling meals for $20 each, with all proceeds going to an aid organisation, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) providing assistance on the ground.
"I did this to be honest, partially for selfish reasons because I just needed to do something. It was just killing me doing nothing and, to raise money and keep the conversation about what's happening in Gaza going," she said.
"We've just been completely heartbroken and beside ourselves watching innocent and unarmed civilians, day after day, being relentlessly bombed."
Ms Ausburn said dropping meals off to strangers was a "beautiful way" to meet people and keep the conversation going.
"Every time I arrive at someone's house to drop them a meal, we have a really beautiful chat about what's happening and check in on each other and talk about Palestine," she said.
She wanted to thank her friends Ashleigh Hayes and Bonnie-Grace Dwyer who came on board to help raise funds and awareness.
