Sunday, December 30, 2012

On the Eve of 2013


Well, Christmas is behind us and 2013 is in front of us… I hope that everyone has had a wonderful time over Christmas and has come through the week alright. 2013 is going to be an exciting year with many great things in the pipeline. Yes, the Polite Team has a very good feeling about 2013. Just a few hours ago I created a Facebook events page for the first time ever. Quite an accomplishment for me to create something bigger than a post on my own wall, I can tell you, hahaha! Very exciting but wait, it gets better! Wait to hear what the events page is for… drumroll…… It’s for our next BBQ for the Homeless and Others in Need! The first one of 2013. It will take place on Sunday 17 February in Musgrave Park, South Brisbane, from 10:00AM to 2:00PM. One of the most exciting things is to see how quickly and with how much enthusiasm people respond and how much they want to help. This is one of the things where Facebook is a terrific tool to reach many people. Thank you, Facebook J This BBQ will turn out to be another terrific, successful event. 

The other thing is that I woke up one morning just this past week, switched on my computer, and found the Signal Flare Facebook page that Grant had created. Fantastic! Just the kind of page we need. Rather than an events page, it is an ongoing kind of page, as of course life keeps happening also in between events, and people don’t stop needing assistance just because the BBQ was yesterday. With the Signal Flare page we can all stay in touch, keep the spirit of helping alive, and whenever anyone needs anything we can do a call for help/donations and organize what gets done. So, another great thing that will help us do our thing in 2013. Please have a look and Like it if you do.

To find the link on Facebook, please type in "Signal Flare, We are here to help those when they need it most". There is a link on that page which will bring you to our BBQ events page.

As this is my end-of-year blog post I thought I’d do a little update on a couple of people I wrote about. The young family in the caravan park are doing well. She has work selling the Big Issue and he looks after their little girl and is looking for work as well. A lot of their income went into buying food and Christmas presents for their four-and-a-half-year-old, so they do use their money wisely. They had a Christmas tree because they had a caravan to put it in. They very kindly invited the Polite Team over for Christmas lunch, but we already had commitments of our own. We are so proud of them! Then, the guy I wrote about before. The guy who lived in a lodge, who had gone off the drugs and alcohol, and who had been clean for two years because he wanted to do well to be granted more access to his little one. He also wanted to have a better environment for his little boy when he had him stay. A lot had happened since I spoke with him back then. He had left the lodge and had lived back on the streets. He went through a very difficult time, but right now he is finding his way back up once again. He is re-establishing relationships with some of his family and is hopeful for the future. Awesome. And lastly, the man who gave me the piñata. He came to our last BBQ. We spoke only briefly but he seemed to enjoy the event, and had found a few things to take that he really liked.

Wow, my last blog post for 2012… I just want to say how happy I am with this blog that I am honoured and proud to share with Grant. It’s been a privilege to be invited by him to do that, to raise awareness of homelessness issues and to help people in a very practical manner to gain access to the very basic necessities of life that other people so often take for granted. Like a toothbrush, to name but one such thing… You don’t usually hear people be excited about a toothbrush but trust me, for a lot of people having their own toothbrush is a treasure.

If you are thinking of ways to make your dollar stretch and help others, please consider using our donation button and donate towards Grant's wonderful coffee cart project. It is a project that will help many people get on their feet and build their future, and so your dollar will go a long way. It will help people whom you may never meet but who will have a better future because of it. For more information about this project, see Grant's previous blog post.

Finally, I would like to wish all our readers a fantastic, happy, peaceful and inspired New Year. Please be safe as you see in 2013, and we will meet again at the other side of New Year’s Eve. Bestest wishes everyone from the Polite Team!

Written by Bernie the Polite Girl from The Polite Team.
berniethepolitegirl@gmail.com

1 comment:

  1. Another fantastic blog Bernie!!

    Will be seeing you on February 17th, 2013 for sure!

    A big thank you to you and Grant from us, on behalf of all the homeless/less fortunate that you help!

    Looking forward to working with you both again in 2013.

    HAPPY NEW YEAR GRANT AND BERNIE and also to all the others who read these blogs and/or help the less foruntate! May it be a new year where we all dig just that little bit deeper, not only into our wallets, but also our soul, and do just that little bit extra to help someone less fortunate.

    Karen
    K4BN

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