Where to start when there
is so much to say… I haven't figured out yet how to rotate photos on the blog, so my apologies, you will have to tilt your heads... Am working on it! Three stories in one post, here we go.
First of all, a massive
thank you to those generous people who offered to help the family in the
caravan park whom I wrote about in my last blog post. Help ranged from monetary
donations right through to an offer to share accommodation. This family has experienced
how much other people believe in them, and they too believe now that they can
turn things around. They have determination, hope for the future, and smiles on
their faces. The guy is looking to find work. Just great.
Here’s an example of
people’s generosity and compassion for total strangers. I received an email
from Kathy, a lady who read my blog post. Because she lives in New South Wales she
could not give any pots, pans, or anything else that was on our list of much
needed items. However, she did want to help this family build a better future. She
generously donated money so on her behalf we could buy some of the basics the
family was so in need of.
The Polite Team don’t like
to waste any time, so the next day (Thursday) we took the couple shopping. They
were so excited and headed straight for the kitchen department. The guy is the
cook in the family, has a passion for cooking, and with no hesitation he picked
a slow cooker first. Then they went on to carefully choose a set of two cutting
boards, a masher, and a set of containers. We chucked in a bag of mixed nuts as
a little gift. They were so grateful for the goodness of others who they would
probably never meet but who donated money and therewith told them they believed
in them. Nothing could wipe the smiles off their faces, I tell ya, and they were very proud to have their photo taken for this blog. The girl
said several times that she was so happy she just wanted to give us something
too, but she didn’t have anything. But really, the smiles on their faces was
all we wanted to see, and what more could we wish for than for them to do well,
and I told her so. We do have a dinner invitation for the future in our pocket though
J And I could report to Kathy how her money was spent and
how happy the family were. Thank you, Kathy!
After shopping with the
couple, I got in the car with Mick and Garry with posters on my mind and in my
bag, while Grant went to work on another project. Mick, Garry and I covered part
of the North side distributing posters for our Christmas BBQ to homeless
centres, lodges and hostels. Garry had a 6-page list of accommodation for the
homeless, but surely with his mind-boggling knowledge he knew a few places that
had not made it to the list!
Many thanks to Garry, who
gave up his lunch hour rush to be our guide and who, apart from knowledge, also
had a photographic map in his head so we could cover all places efficiently
without driving back and forth. Without Garry we would not have covered so many
places in one afternoon and include a little lunch break as well. And many
thanks to Mick, for driving us tirelessly, making some last-minute,
James-Bond-like turn-offs safely, and waiting patiently while Garry and I
visited the accommodation places, introduced ourselves and left posters. Thank
you both so much for giving your afternoon. And thank you, Grant, for your
care, and for calling in several times to see if everything was alright.
And an awesome and
hands-on afternoon it was! It was good to see what a whopping number of rooms
there is for homeless people to rent, but overwhelming and sad to know that
despite all these many places there are still way too few available for all the
homeless people or, although rundown, they are too expensive to afford. We went
to major homeless accommodation centres like Pindari and the Three Mansions, to
places like Roma House, and to smaller lodges that don’t all have names. Without
exception we were welcomed very warmly, and staff everywhere was keen to
display our poster and encourage their residents/clients to attend the BBQ.
Kym, who works at either
the Three Mansions or at Roma House (sorry, I visited so many places I don’t
remember exactly) very kindly offered to place our poster in their newsletter
if I could send her an electronic version. Deal, easily done! She gave me her
card, and she works for Queensland Shelter. Garry, knowledgeable as he is, told
me their newsletter goes out every Monday, and we are so excited to know that the
notification of our event will reach that many more people because of Kym’s
goodness. Thank you, Kym!
 |
| With Garry and Mick, gearing up to cover homeless accommodation places on the North side. |
 |
| Handing out posters with Garry. This was at the 139 Club in the Valley. |
The BBQ itself is going to
be GREAT AND BIG and seems to get bigger by the day believe it or not! BBQs
have never been this big before. We have so much interest of people wanting to
contribute, such wonderful input from expected and unexpected corners, so much
good will. Truly, Christmas has come very early for the Polite Team in that
sense, as we already get to enjoy the Christmas spirit (and I am generously
passing it on here, haha). Christmas is going to be spectacular for so many
people this year, because they have either the warm feeling of selflessly having
done something really good for others, or the warm feeling of knowing that people
care about them enough to donate clothes, shoes, toiletries, toys, the list
goes on. No one who comes to the BBQ will need to leave empty-handed.
Let me tell you about the
latest contribution. Happened yesterday morning. Grant had a lovely day off,
and asked me to call a lady who had called him and who had a massive (and I do
mean MASSIVE) amount of shoes to get rid of in a hurry. She had collected them
to donate and would keep collecting for the next two weeks – until the BBQ. I
called this lady and she was very happy and relieved for the shoes to go to our
BBQ. I organized pick-up with Lee (thank you, Lee!), and we will have the shoes
in storage until the event. Helps the lady empty her limited storage space and
makes space for her to collect more shoes between now and the BBQ J
As Grant said in his blog
post, we need $1,500 to cover costs. To date, we have received $120. He
suggested if 30 people donate $50 that would be the amount covered. However,
smaller amounts are of course very welcome too, and get even more people
involved in giving. The idea is that this is a community event, by the
community for the community. If you do want to donate, there is a donate button
on the right side of the blog, towards the top. Feel free to use that button,
or contact us. Grant will write a thank-you post when all the money has been
received.
Thank you all for reading,
and have a great day!
Written by Bernie the
Polite Girl from the Polite Team
No comments:
Post a Comment