A FORRESTFIELD mum who saves good food from becoming landfill and feeds thousands in need has become a state finalist in the search for Australia’s kindest person.

Athena Powell volunteers for charity Feed it Forward, distributing food to more than 2000 local families from her car and home.

Ms Powell is a mother of four and performs these acts of service while also being a full time carer for her father.

She is one of three state finalists who were selected from hundreds of entries nationwide.

Ms Powell said she wasn’t aware of the competition or her submission in it as she was nominated by one of the people she helped.

“One of the people who visited my food pantry nominated me,” she said.

“She was visiting and just told me, ‘By the way I nominated you and you’re a state finalist’.

“I was like, ‘What?’ and she said she was thankful for the hard times that she got through because of our work, and thought it was worth a nomination.”

Ms Powell said she grew up rough in Forrestfield and Beckenham, and those memories helped give meaning to the work she does.

“Myself, I had a really hard upbringing and there wasn’t food there so sometimes family members had to resort to stealing just to be fed,” she said.

“My parents were druggies and by the time I turned 10-years-old, Mum was diagnosed with drug induced schizophrenia.

“We were left with our father, which wasn’t good either, then after a $300 power bill went unpaid, we had nearly no power growing up.

“We had enough to run the generator for an hour and quickly shower and feed me and my sisters and that was it.

“I started working at 14 to help pay at home and get out of that situation as soon as I could.”

Echo News paid a visit during a Wednesday collection where donuts were being given away.

People patiently waited on Ms Powell’s front lawn in the spring sunshine, some shielding their eyes with a hand on their brow, before they were given the signal to come in.

Without rushing or pushing, the people filed into a line and began taking a few items from the shelves.

“I think I may have scared people off when I told them on Monday that photos might be taken,” Ms Powell said.

“Usually there’s no parking on the street from how busy it gets.”

Community members who arrived took a moment to greet Ms Powell and catch up briefly, and all thanked her and said goodbye as they left.

Ms Powell said there still existed a deep-rooted shame for people to reach out despite the real hardships they faced.

One instance stood out to her that she said she had never forgotten.

“When it first started, I was donating to a local school that my kids go to and this kid came up to me,” she said.

“He said, ‘If it wasn’t for what you do, we wouldn’t have food on mum’s off week of pay.’

“She had sent him over to thank me because she felt too ashamed to come over herself — they’re too ashamed to come and I explain to them I’ve been in the same situation.

“I remember going home and crying, because it can just be heartbreaking.

“I do it because people deserve to at least stay fed and have food for their children.”

People may vote for Ms Powell at Black Pepper stores during September.