Jacqui Green recently took up a call to action for donations of coffee and cups from Rosies, a volunteer-based not for profit supporting people who are marginalised within our community. Jacqui decided to spend an hour a day for one week, blindfolded, on Surfers Paradise beach offering ‘free hugs’ to people in return for donations to Rosies to support the homeless. Jacqui also contacted BioPak asking them to provide cups.
General Manager, Andrew O’Brien said that Rosies simply aims to acknowledge human dignity and inspire an increased self-reliance. BioPak were so moved by Jacqui’s heart warming efforts and enthusiasm that they contacted Rosies directly. As a result BioPak has kindly offered to donate Rosies with 100,000 cups that they need each year and are looking into a longer term partnership.
‘It’s amazing what a simple cuppa, bite to eat, and a chat with our volunteers can do for our many friends’, Mr O’Brien said.
‘Over 95% of our work is funded through kind donations from our local community, and wonderful people like Jacqui, and we cannot thank her and BioPak enough,’ he said.
BioPak Ma
rketing Manager, Adrianne Tasker, said it was an obvious choice to partner with Rosies after Jacqui’s wonderful introduction.
‘Our aim is to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of everyday consumer choices and to offer solutions that enable our customers, employees, and the wider community to choose more sustainable alternatives’, Ms Tasker said.
‘We are very proud to support many initiatives throughout the community who share this vision’, she said.
Tonight 20,000 Queenslanders are homeless. Almost half are women. Over 40% are aged 25 or under, of which 3,500 are kids 12 and under.
Most people are not homeless by choice. It is their only option. Often they are hidden. Young people experiencing homelessness are also more likely to experience higher unemployment than the rest of the population, have worse health outcomes, and little to no income. Once started homelessness can become a cycle, especially when so young. Education and awareness play a vital role in prevention and support, which is also a core aim of Rosies.
It is as simple as having a cuppa for Rosies.
