Samantha is the Assistant Restaurant Manager at Belconnen in the Australian Capital. Originally from Sydney, Samantha moved to Canberra to be closer to her twin sister. After working at a fast-food restaurant for 5 years she knew it was time to make a change.. so she landed at Grill’d. Samantha has a strong passion for Local Matters and loves using Grill’d as a platform to help others, just like how others helped her when she was a kid.

 

Who are you outside of work? 

I was studying at University but it wasn’t something I saw myself enjoying in the long run. I decided to focus my energy on Grill’d and building a career that I actually love. 

I’m also a horse rider but unfortunately, my horses are all back in Sydney, so my time off is spent hiking, going to the gym, and spending rainy days in bed watching Netflix.

 

What does Local Matters mean to you? 

It’s a way for me to give back to the community. We have various small charities which haven’t got a lot of community outreach. From our jars, people ask questions and want to learn more or want to get involved. It’s not just about monetary donations, it’s about raising awareness and making connections with the community. We’ve also started taking the team out to volunteer. 

 

Can you tell us a bit about 1 million bottles for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?

Sasha, our Area Manager, had the idea to collect one million bottles to raise money for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma research, after a colleague was diagnosed. We collect all the bottles from our restaurants (some employees also bring them in from home), then I take them to the bottle deposit and get 10c per bottle. So far we have collected 8000 bottles. But once we reach 1 million bottles we aren’t going to stop! Moving forward, we’re going to continue the bottle collections and donate the money to a selected charity each time we’ve collected 1 million. 

Why does Local Matters mean so much to you?

I was really sick when I was a kid. I had my left jaw reconstructed out of metal, due to a tumour when I was 9 years old. My most recent surgery was only last year, so it’s been a 13 year ordeal with me being in hospital for months on end. When I was at the Westmead children’s hospital, the Ronald McDonald House really helped me out and made it a fun experience; they made my day better when I was sick and couldn’t do anything. So now that I’m healthy, I want to give back.