Organo Gold is GOLD

I’m so excited I feel like I have won Lotto (I haven’t), I solve a huge problem I had. You know that saying “Good things come to those that wait” It’s true It’s TRUE. Imagine me doing a happy dance Haha

I’ll start at the beginning.

I’ve been doing my BBQ’s now for about 4 ½ years were we give free food, toiletries and much more to Homeless and People in Need every 8 weeks helping between 400-1,000 at a time (Need Help). I still do them. The thing I kept thinking was that yes we were doing an awesome thing but I’m a firm believer in “Give a man a fish and he gets to eat for the day, but if you teach him how to fish then he eats everyday” So I thought of a awesome idea where I put coffee shops together and then using the charity I put together “Signal Flare” and it awesome volunteers help people with everything to get people on their feet like accommodation, hair cut, clothes and really a lot of things that people need, then through the coffee shops give them training to learn a skill that they can take anywhere. But best of all they would be paid above award wages.

So in fact we would have Homeless or People in Need getting on their feet in a huge way and then getting skills they can take anywhere. An awesome idea even if I say so myself. Haha

Now the next bit I write is not in any way meant to be harsh or mean. I’m not complaining or putting any one person down. Just explaining the way it was.

“Having a Go Coffee” was born and yes it had it’s up’s and down’s like any business. But the positives of what this project could do was just too good to not do it.

The problem, Helping people on their feet didn’t mean they were ready to work, some picked up the skills and working idea very well while others umm well not so quick even though they were on good money. For example we had an awesome guy working but anything more than swiping the floor in tasks we were in trouble. I know in time confidence would come and really that was the whole idea of this project. But to stay in operation I had to hire more people to keep get the duties done to still operate as a coffee shop during busy times while I had one or two cleaning and watching. Let’s face it you need someone that can make a coffee in a coffee shop which meant extra wages.

The first store was opened and then the second. Promoting here and elsewhere people loved the idea and people would come all the way from Ipswich (40km) and The Gold Coast (90km) which was awesome but the sad fact was people were not coming in everyday. They were once in a while and because of the distance I really do understand.  

There’s my problem, I had to employ extra staff to keep open while paying for people to get their confidence and then skills. Paying above award wages on too many staff sets business’s back. I wanted to keep the workers with no skills to help them to learn their new skills and stay on their feet. Otherwise there was no reason to have the shop in the first place.

As you can understand this was a huge problem and to make this worst I came up with the idea of having a shop which gives clothes to the Homeless and People in Need for free (Like a Thrift shop but it’s all free to those in need) 7 days a week. Having a Go Coffee would be at the front of the shop selling coffee and making money.

THE SOLUTION: A lady “Janette” came to me saying she had a great idea. Through her I meet an awesome guy “Adrian”. Now I to say the first time I meet Adrian was as a volunteer at our Ipswich Homeless BBQ we had not long ago. He’s very successful as a businessman but I remember that first day him saying “People can make money but if you don’t give back to the community then what’s the point”. We form an amazing friendship and in time brought to me a solution to my problem.

He introduced “Organo Gold”. This is going to help me to help so many more people I really do thing I’m as happy as if I have won Lotto. Okay here’s how it works.

Organo Gold is boxes/ satchels of coffee which our customers that come from local or far away can buy and get it delivered to their house. It means Having a Go Coffee can make money 24hrs and still be able to support the extra staff and helping people from the one location. I had a dream of opening 50 coffee shops and helping thousands of people to get a huge start in life. You see as these people I’ve helped move on the store is still there to help and employ the next person in a huge way.

Now I haven’t enough told you the best bits about Organo Gold. But if I put it in point form people will see different things they like and some maybe not. But point form is easier for me to do it.

·         Organo Gold have their own Fundraising plans, designed to help charities to raise profits

·         Organo Gold is healthy, I know drinking healthy coffee, who thought. But it’s got Ganoderma in it which was a herb that only the Chinese Royal family were allowed to use for centuries. Ganoderma has a nickname “King of herbs” and one thing I know is the Chinese know their herb’s.

·         Organo Gold has only been in Australia for about 12 months and is in 35+ countries around the world.

·         Organo Gold has in their structure to help give back to the community with it’s members helping charities and such, to be honest Organo Gold is sending 20 volunteers to our next Homeless BBQ at Ipswich, Queens park, 10am on the 27^th of April.  

·         I ask about 100 people to try this coffee and only had 4 people say they don’t like it.

·         Comes in different styles

1.      Black Coffee

2.      Cafe Latte

3.      Cafe Mocha

4.      Green Tea

5.      And of course Hot Chocolate.

This is going to save Having a Go Coffee by offering a home delivery as a extra income. It’s now looking at a huge future were I feel nothing can stop it. So if you want to earn extra money doing coffee which nearly everyone drinks or just want to buy it for yourself then please contact me on 0412 190 011 or grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com and let’s show the community coming together to help and please have a cup of coffee.

The reason I promoted Adrian so much is because he gave hundred’s of sample’s which he donated and paid for out of his pocket so I can invite people to try this coffee. If you want to try this coffee I’ll invite you to my place or I’ll come to you and you can invite others to come for a coffee and chat. Very social.

Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you have a great day.

Grant Richards

Grant the Polite Guy

0412 190 011

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com  

 

Let's help some people

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now but to tell you the truth it brought anger, a tear of relief and yes I even felt inspired in a way I can’t explain it.

Signal Flare which is the charity I helped to put together with awesome help from smart people has jumped through all the hoops and is now able to give Tax Deductable receipts. We also got all the papers done so we can collect as a charity in public with charity tins. AWESOME. A long time coming but worth it. Thank you Tom and Bernie the Polite Girl for helping me to get this far, I couldn’t have done this without you.

So if you have too much money and want to put it towards an awesome cause that helps people, please email me on grantthepoliteguy@gmail.comsame park. You see if you crawl under the stairs there’s heaps of room and because of the bushes no-one can see you and it’s a lot safer.

I used to lay there thinking of all the good things in life and maintaining the thought that I would get on my feet and ( I know how dumb this sounds but true) think about being a “man” again.

I have done so much getting on my feet and helping so many people along the way, that I must say I’m proud of myself and I am a MAN.

I could talk all night about how great I am but really what makes me so proud is talking about all the people that I’ve help get on their feet. I have seen people cry about how their living and just wanting that break or hand up in life. I have seen these people fight their own demons to want to get on their feet. There’s not a switch that they turn on and they start working a full time job and settle down with a wife and kids. It takes hard work and working out within themselves to go as fast as they feel they can.

I have seen some get on their feet fast, fail and get back up and yes seen some fail and quit trying, but really in life we can only ever ask that someone gives their best in life and support them when they are.

I really feel that yes people make mistakes in life but when we give up on them then why should they keep the faith in themselves. I say if someone’s willing to try then the least I can do is say “I will stand by you as long as you don’t quit”. Really sometimes all a person needs is a friend or friendly support.

If you see someone that is trying in life, is it really going to be hard to say “You can do it mate I believe in you”

I’d like to thank you all for reading my blog and I hope you all have a great day.

Grant the Polite Guy

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com

0412 190 011

One Man's Dream

Often people see homeless folks on the streets but they don’t really see them. To people, privileged with a roof over their heads, the homeless are often regarded as faceless, the kind of people you see in a blur but who don’t really exist, who don’t really consist of flesh and blood, who are not worth a second look, eye contact or a friendly “hello”, but who are easy targets for abuse because chances that they will report the abuse to the police are slim. Yet those people are people. With feelings and needs, hopes and dreams. People just like anyone else, really, just without a home due to circumstances unknown by passers-by, but there are always circumstances that cause people to be without a roof over their heads. And amongst those people, as amongst any group of humans, there are true gems. The gems amongst the homeless, however, mostly go unnoticed or unrecognized. This blog post is about one such gem and what he accomplished.

 

Once upon a time a homeless man had a dream. He dreamed of helping other homeless people, and of helping anyone who was in need. He knew from experience what it was like to be seen in a blur, to not really exist for others, to be abused, to not have his needs heard. He started to make his dream reality by helping people, one by one. From the little money he earned as a Big Issue vendor he bought food for others on a one-on-one basis, and they had a talk. He heard many life stories, and when he heard people wanting to get ahead in life, he did what he could to help them achieve that. As a Big Issue vendor he had established many contacts of people of all backgrounds, and so contacts to help people with accommodation, other help or even employment were easily made. At first he did not have a mobile phone, so he spent another lot of his little income on pay phones making contacts for others.

 

One day a lady gave him clothes to give to someone who needed them. That afternoon someone was wearing the clothes, and with the thrill of seeing the recipient’s joy the idea for a BBQ for homeless people and others in need was born. He collected clothes, shoes, hygiene products and anything else homeless people might need, and help from the community was instant and huge. People donated in droves. Not only clothes, toiletries and what have you, but also money to be able to put food on the table at the BBQ. The BBQ was a great success. Around 400 homeless people turned up along with volunteers, and for everybody this was a heartfelt and wonderful event.

 

The huge success of this BBQ inspired this homeless man to organize more BBQs like this one, and from here it grew over the years. Five-star caterers came on board (thank you, Dalton Hospitality!), donations of goods kept coming in, homeless support services came to the BBQs to help those in need in different areas, not to mention the many beautiful volunteers that assist at every BBQ. The homeless people coming to the BBQs experience that there are people for whom they are not a blur, for whom they are people of flesh and blood, who do think they are worthy of a second look, a smile, eye contact, a friendly “hello” and a chat, and it does wonders for their self-worth. They start to smile, they stand up straighter and start to chat. They become more confident and are elated with the food, clothes and other basics they can take with them for free. The BBQs improve the health and wellbeing of the homeless and therewith also improve society as a whole. There is nothing but positives coming from these BBQs, where everything is free for everybody.

 

The man I am talking about has built a dedicated team around him that has helped him make his long-held dream of founding a charity reality, so that more people can be helped on a larger scale. After a long and arduous road Signal Flare is now a registered charity with the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission) and with the Office of Fair Trading, and is a Deductible Gift Recipient. This means Signal Flare can receive donations which are tax deductible. This is so important because at present Signal Flare does not receive government funding and relies solely upon memberships, donations and sponsorships.

 

If you would like any more information about Signal Flare or would like to support Signal Flare by becoming a financial member or by sponsorship, please contact me at signalflare_secretary@yahoo.com.au If you would like to donate to Signal Flare, here are the bank details:

 

Bank of Queensland

BSB:       124-001

AC No:  22066259

Name:  Signal Flare Inc

 

If you are donating, please email Tom, our Treasurer, at signalflare_treasurer@yahoo.com.au with your contact details, the amount you are donating and the date of donation so he can send you a donation receipt.

If you would like to see more of what we are all about, if you want to meet our very lively online community, take part in our discussions and follow what we do, please feel free to check out and Like our Facebook site:  https://www.facebook.com/HomelessBBQs?fref=ts 
 

The team is proud at the accomplishment of becoming a registered charity (final registration has only come through last month, yes, January!) and has great plans for growth for the charity and for the different kinds of assistance Signal Flare will be able to provide to the homeless and others in need. We are a true community charity as we rely on donations of goods as well as monetary donations and sponsorships from the community, and we are proud because we can truly say that through Signal Flare the community comes together to help the homeless and those in need.

 

The homeless man with a dream has come a very long way since his first homeless BBQ. From Big Issue vendor to founder of Signal Flare, Grant the Polite Guy has found his niche. He has come home in more ways than one. And I am so privileged to have witnessed the transformation. What this man does, he does from the heart. He does not see the point of doing something if it is not going to help someone else. They don’t come more genuine than Grant, and he is the soul of Signal Flare, our charity. Here’s to Grant, to Signal Flare and to its supporters!

 

Written by Bernie the Polite Girl

berniethepolitegirl@gmail.com

signalflare_secretary@yahoo.com.au

New Year Start

The start of a New Year. I hope everyone had a great holidays and was safe.

I’m excited about the next 12 months coming because I have so many new plans coming into place. In a few weeks a new and exciting shop will open, trust me this one shop is going to help more people in one year then I have helped in the last 4 ½ years since I was homeless. But I’ll say more about this new idea of a shop when I launch it in a few weeks. You’ll be impressed. Haha

“Having a Go Coffee” which I setup as a business that operates as a coffee shop, but only employs people that we have helped who are homeless or people in need and also sell Suspended Coffee which means people can buy an additional coffee for the next homeless or person in need that walks into the shop. Some exciting news to add is that “Having a Go Coffee” will also be doing home delivery for coffee as well. It’ll be great.

In the next 12 months I’m putting 5 shops into place

Valley

Ipswich

Cleveland

Caboolture

Gold Coast

Remember all locations will be a collection place for people to donate clothes and things for the Homeless BQQ’s that we do which homeless and people in need get clothes, toiletries, blankets, kids toys and things free.

On a new topic, I don’t know if anyone will want to read it but I’m starting to write a book about from having everything in life and then an accident which turned to homelessness to Homeless BBQ’s for others to everything I do now. It’ll be awesome. Haha I think I’m doing it mostly for myself because in a way I get a great feeling about what I have done and all the obstacles I’ve overcome. But the most important is I get to write about the awesome friendships I’ve made along the way.

I may never finish it of course but I’d like to think one day it’ll be done.

We are planning our next BBQ for February in Ipswich. I’ll be giving more details as I know more.

I’d like to thank you all for reading my blog and I hope you all have a great day.

Grant Richards

Grant the Polite Guy

0412 190 011

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com  

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming, people! I have been humming “Jingle Bells” for months now, ever since the first plan for this BBQ was there, and yes, we did it again! Also this year we have run a Christmas BBQ for the Homeless and Others in Need, proudly for the first time under the name of our charity Signal Flare. And again it was a beautiful day, Thursday 28 November 2013, in Musgrave Park under the Queensland sun. Again we saw our guests coming, we saw their excitement at finding essentials such as toiletries, clothes and backpacks, and it was a joy to see them line up for a yummy lunch. Some guests ate their lunch in groups, others sat by themselves. We saw their faces light up when they were made welcome and were greeted with a smile and friendly “Good morning”. Quite touching actually, to see how easy it was to make it a wonderful day for everyone, and everyone made it a very special day for us: it is always heart-warming to notice how people grow, come out of their shell, when you just take the time to talk with them.

 

 

 The beautiful thing is that our BBQs are not just inspiring for us, but that it also inspires other people to help others. One lady in need, for example, travelled from Brisbane’s North Side to Ipswich to attend our BBQ in September. She told me her story there and was helped - not only by me. She texted me every few weeks to let me know how she was doing, and she came again to this BBQ because she wanted to give back and volunteer. That is the most fantastic thing to experience. One of the talented artists at the Christmas BBQ enquired how she could donate things; having been at our event she saw the need and the happiness, and she wanted to help as well. Just great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 As I said before, a lot of work has been done to get it all happening, we had a few hiccups but all went well in the end and it was more than worth it. One first-time volunteer had been hesitant about coming or not, as she thought everyone would know each other and she would not know anyone and feel the odd one out. She decided to come, had the best time and did not feel left out at all. At our BBQs everybody talks with everybody, there is a strong sense of inclusion and equality, and usually everybody leaves with great memories of a happy and positive event. For that we have to thank everybody who comes to our BBQs. They are beautiful souls, whether they are homeless, others in need, or volunteers.

 

 

The Polite Team would like to thank a lot of people for making our Christmas BBQ as wonderful as it was:

 

Rod, thank you for giving us the one and only Santa to join us in such a magnificent way. You spread Christmas joy to many people by being there, handing out surprises, and having many people great and small on your lap. Thank you also to the wonderful Mrs Santa!
 
The wonderful and generous Jerome and Dalton Hospitality: thank you for bringing your equipment, food and drinks, thank you for offering us your van to load with donations the day before the BBQ. It made a big difference on the morning of the BBQ! And thank you for lending Emily to us on both days.

Thank you Foodbank for donating sausages and bread.

Thank you, Ipswich Hospital Foundation, for lending us tables and marquees, and thank you, James, for picking them up, bringing them to Musgrave Park and returning them to Ipswich Hospital Foundation. While we’re at it, James, also thank you for picking up the bread in Morningside, returning the generator to East Brisbane and for returning our tables and marquees to our storage. We would have been lost without your goodwill.

St John Ambulance Australia – Wynnum division – thank you for attending our event supporting the homeless and others in need, and keeping us safe and looking after us. Keith, Brad and Chrissy, your presence was very much appreciated.

Knitting for Brisbane’s Needy, thank you so much for your fantastic contribution to donations and atmosphere as always. You simply rock and have hearts of gold, and your knitted products are made with a lot of love. Wesley Mission Emergency Relief Service, thank you for coming and helping people. Hepatitis Queensland, thank you for coming and distributing useful health information.

Odyssey Entertainment and Dan, thank you so much for organizing the fantastic live music for the event. Jon-Paul Schwarzes, Ataractic, Lex Woodfinger, Paul O’Daly, Skye Staniford and Matthew Furley / Houses, thank you for adding a very special touch to this event and for sharing your talents for all to enjoy.

Massive thank you to ALL our volunteers, amongst which members of the Golden Valley Keperra Leos Club and Kotahi Aroha. We couldn’t have done it without your compassion, sunny smiles and enthusiasm.

Rebecca and Gerhard, the list of things to thank you for is very long. In brief, thank you for your enormous contribution to making the event go well and to its preparations, for your passion, compassion and enthusiasm.

Thank you to our dedicated sorting team who helped us sort lots of donations on the weekend prior to the BBQ.

Big thank you to Having a Go Coffee Coorparoo for collecting donations for this BBQ on Brisbane's south side, and for holding them until we had reorganized our storage space on the north side.

And last but not least, thank you to everybody who donated clothes, shoes, toiletries, toys, backpacks and much more. Without you we would not have anything to give away to those who need it. And essentials that are taken for granted by us mean so much more to others who have gone without those essentials for such a long time. Whether you gave one pair of shoes or boxes full of toiletries (thank you, Telstra!), please know that it was all very, very much appreciated by us and by the people who got to take them.

 

Heavens, I hope I have not forgotten to thank anybody. If I have, please accept my sincerest apologies!

 

We hope you have caught on to the Christmas spirit of doing something nice for others.  It may be very simple for you but you will never know how much it may mean to the person who needs that touch of kindness on the day.

The Polite Team wishes you a great time leading up to the Festive Season!

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

Time-out

I am trying very hard to not put the wrong message across. It is true, I have hit some hard times, personal and business, which has given me some setback. I have found myself depressed and feel I need to get away for a couple of weeks to be on my own and take time out for myself.

I do want to make this very clear to everyone and especially the people I have helped that read my blog, I am not giving up, I am not quitting, I just feel burnt out and I am taking a short break. I am going to Sydney to get away from things, and I will have my phone off as I feel that I need to just find myself again.

I have given and done so much to help people, and I know people will want to call or text, and I am asking them now not to. I need time for me.

I hate putting it like this, but I feel I am wanting and needing this time for myself.

I will be back brighter, even bigger smile, and I hope you all have a good day. I am not going to lie, if you have an emergency please do call as I will always be there to help.

Yes we Coorparoo store "Having a Go Coffee" will be open, please come for a coffee.

Grant Richards

Grant the Polite Guy

0412 190 011

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time, a day before one of our BBQs for the Homeless and Others in Need, I posted on The Big Issue wall on Facebook, commenting on The Big Issue's encouragement of people to take paid subscriptions on this fortnightly magazine. I commented that the street vendors, who earn their living by selling the magazine, would get less sales when people got the magazine home-delivered in the mail, and that the magazine was designed to help street vendors help themselves by selling it. A lady named Bridget (whose name is not really Bridget) replied to my post talking about her life. She was a Big Issue vendor, and I won’t go into the details but she had experienced trauma at the hands of others and had had a tough life. I read her reply while walking from South Brisbane Station to Musgrave Park at about 6:45am to set up our BBQ with Grant and some volunteers, and I replied to Bridget that I was sorry she had gone through all that in her life, that I was on my way to set up a BBQ for the homeless and others in need and so that I did not have time to reply much now, but that I would reply more tonight or tomorrow.

The same evening or the next morning (I can’t quite remember) I replied more to her comment to my post on the Big Issue Facebook page and posted photos of the BBQ on Facebook, and Bridget replied on the photos: she had been to the BBQ, found some clothes, enjoyed some great food (thank you, Dalton Hospitality!) and had a great time. My surprise was huge: I had no idea she lived in Brisbane! I found a Facebook friend request from her and that was the start of a friendship.

Bridget sold The Big Issue in Brisbane and was a regular at our BBQs. Then, fast forward, while we are still doing BBQs for the homeless and others in need, Grant was opening his coffee shop “Having a Go Coffee”. A very special coffee shop that really deserves – and will get!!! - a post of its own. For those who don’t know, in brief: “Having a Go Coffee” employs only people from a background of homelessness or other hardship to help them turn their lives around, it is a suspended-coffee outlet, and 20 cents of every cup sold goes to Signal Flare, the charity that we set up but that really has been Grant’s initiative – Signal Flare, too, deserves a post of its own! “Having a Go Coffee” is also a drop-off zone for donations for our BBQs: clothes, shoes, toiletries and anything else donated for homeless and others in need can be dropped off at the shop from where it will go to our storage or straight to the BBQs.

To understand the rest of this story you need to understand the concept of suspended coffee. It's simple: suspended coffee means that you can buy a coffee but instead of having it yourself you can place a token in a jar for someone in need to have a coffee. Every generous soul can do it! Bridget regularly visited “Having a Go Coffee” to enjoy a suspended coffee. She enjoyed the coffee so much that she was often literally moved to tears because people had the goodness of heart to buy a suspended coffee for someone else, so that she too could enjoy a coffee like most people can.

Lately Bridget has been doing very well. She has been able proudly to buy a few suspended coffees for others herself and, coming from where she has come from, she was doubly proud and happy because she knew from experience what these coffees mean to people in need. To them it is much more than the ordinary coffee it is for most people: it is coffee that comes with love from another person, it shows that people care, drinking coffee in a coffee shop like other people do narrows the gap between them and others and lifts their feelings of self-worth, and because they can’t have a coffee that often it simply tastes like heaven, too!

And just a few weeks ago Bridget came into the shop, with a beaming smile, carrying bags of clothes she was donating to our BBQs. Just awesome and heart-warming. She was proud and so were we. And she knows her clothes will go directly and for free to people who really need them and are very much helped by them. Bridget is giving back to the community and it is wonderful. We applaud her and people like her. We cheer them on. They have come a long way and they show that hard times can be overcome, that people can improve their situations and deserve respect. The homeless and others in need don’t deserve the prejudice and negative attitude they so often meet: we don’t know their story and we don’t know how hard they might be working right now to get out of their situation into a better one.

To me, Bridget’s story is an inspiration. I am proud. And it all started with a post to The Big Issue… Thank you, Bridget.

I hope you will all have a great day. Give a smile or a kind word to someone on the street today; you won't know how it might lift their spirits!

Posted by Bernie the Polite Girl for The Polite Team
berniethepolitegirl@gmail.com