THERE'S not much that shocks Pauline and Jim Aitken.
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The Echuca couple, aged 75 and 79 respectively, have welcomed criminals, homeless teens and drug addicts into their home in the past.
And far from taking it easy in their golden years, the couple now spends their time operating an emergency food relief service from their garage.
Seven days a week, the Aitkens hand out canned food, fresh bread, vegetables and fruit to the most vulnerable members of the Echuca community.
Sometimes, the Aitkens will invite people in for a home-cooked meal at their dining room table, or take them to a service at the nearby Echuca Community Church, of which the Aitkens are affiliated.
Food is provided by local businesses and Bendigo Foodshare, which delivers food twice a month.
Mrs Aitken said she started the service eight years ago, because she was helping people with disabilities acquire emergency food at St Vincent de Paul and thought she might as well start a food service herself.
"St Vinnies said, 'Why don't you do it yourself? and I thought, 'why not?'" Mrs Aitken said.
"(Clients) are sent here from other organisations ... usually by other churches, Centrelink or the police."
Mrs Aitken said a wide range of people came to her for food supplies, from the long-term homeless to professionals who had recently lost their jobs.
"There are ones from the upper class who can't get a job," she said.
"They're applying for jobs and they have children at school and a mortgage. It's very humbling for them to be here."
She said she and Mr Aitken never judged people facing hard times, and believed everybody deserved to be treated with compassion.
I don't get shell shock when they say, 'I've just come from gaol'.
- Pauline Aitken
"I don't get shell shock when they say, 'I'm just out of gaol'," Mrs Aitken said.
"They look at you like they expect you to be shocked but I say, 'Everyone makes mistakes'.
"Unless you accept them back into society they go back to where they came from."
She said the couple had always helped people in need; previously inviting homeless teens - who the couple encountered through their social worker son - to live with them.
Mr Aiken said he found it gratifying when people returned to the couple to thank them for providing assistance in their hour of need.
"I think one of the most encouraging things is when someone Pauline has helped - who used to take goods - comes back to give goods," he said.
"They say, 'We couldn't have got this far if you didn't help us through a bad period'."
