Thank you

I thank everyone who helped make our Christmas Day breakfast and lunch successful. This includes donors, volunteers, businesses, organisations that donated or cooked food, and those who came.

Stories of the people who came on Christmas Day

“Susan” came with her two children. She separated in the past 12 months. She was dreading Christmas Day. She didn’t know how the day would go with her children. On Christmas Day, they were used to having many people, food, fun and interactions. Susan thought it was just going to be her and her two children. She was very happy that a friend invited her and her family to our Christmas Day. She wasn’t disappointed.

“Tom” (in his late 60’s) has been coming for a least 6 years. Before finding out about our Christmas Day, he used to spend the day mostly sleeping and watching TV. He said it was a day he dreaded. He now looks forward to it and doesn’t feel he is alone.

“Mary” is a widow. Her children have long since moved away. Her friends have their own Christmas activities with their families. Like many people her age, Mary didn’t enjoy Christmas. To her, it was a reminder of how lonely and isolated she could feel. This was the second year Mary had joined us. She says what she enjoys the most is the friendly atmosphere and that nearly everyone is up for a chat.

Christmas Days since 2011

We started our first Christmas Day event in 2011; this year was our largest. Creative Cuisine cooked 800 Christmas lunches for us, and we also provided breakfast and had other lunch meals prepared by volunteers. Including takeaways, around 1000 meals were provided.

Missing Equipment

Unfortunately, some cooking and serving equipment were misplaced on the day. This included large stainless steel bain-marie trays, expensive carving knives and other equipment. None of this belonged to us, but we have replaced it. This coming Christmas, we plan on using only our own equipment. We expect the cost to be over $1,000, and if you would like to contribute towards this, donations can be made at www.communityfriends.org.au/donate.

Can you help us?

If you (or someone you know) would like to help us on Wednesdays collect food from Foodbank, please contact Jimmy on 0418 452 067.

Alternatively, if you can help purchase our own equipment for Christmas Day, as mentioned above in “Missing Equipment”, donations can be made at www.communityfriends.org.au/donate.

Global Award Winners!

Community Friends are delighted to announce that we are the Australian winners of the 2021 International Wellness Impact Award generously given by WW.  

We are so honoured and humbled to be one of only 7 grants recipients awarded outside of North America. We were up against some truly honourable and worthy global charities.

WW Honours Local Leaders Around the World Dedicated to the Advancement and Wellness of Underrepresented Communities.

The first ever WW Wellness Impact Award Winners secure $20,000 to further break down the barriers to wellness.

The new world-wide initiative aims to empower, uplift and support community leaders to help address the systemic inequities faced in countries including the US, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. 

“Our goal with this award is to raise awareness of the root causes of wellness inequities by highlighting community-led solutions and amplifying the reach of local changemakers,” said Gail Tifford, Chief Brand Officer, WW. “We had so many powerful submissions and we’re so proud to honor those that are taking a stand to democratise and reimagine what wellness looks like for their communities.”

This award ensures the continued work of Community friends in West End and South Brisbane, providing fresh fruit, vegetables and protein based foods to the homeless, the poor and marginalised.

 It is truly a transformative award 

This honour would not have been possible without the outstanding commitment of our volunteers in ensuring that no one who is homeless, poor or in difficult times goes hungry in Brisbane. 

The $20,000 will touch and enhance so many lives and allow us to continue our work ensuring that the disadvantaged of West End and South Brisbane have enough fresh fruit, vegetables and protein rich foods to at least navigate their way through the week.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our volunteers. This grant will truly be a morale booster and recognises the hard work and dedication of our volunteers over the last 11 years. 

It is so refreshing that a global organisation can seek out and contribute to the quality of life at a local level.

Words cannot express our gratitude to WW International.

Every community deserves resources for healthy living – and we at Community friends know  first-hand the power of community to support and uplift each other – but the staggering reality is that not every community has equal access to life’s necessities, and this was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 has made our work so much harder, we are having to travel further and wider to source food for the poorest in society.

Moving forward we still very much depend on the donations of our community. 

We receive zero ongoing government funding and are not affiliated with any organisation.

Within the next two months we hope to raise enough funds to purchase a vehicle which would assist us in improving our ability to source food further afield.

www.communityfriends.org.au/donate

I would like to tell you about two of the families we have helped recently.

About a month ago, I had to leave the Food Giveaway to pick up some donations. On the way back, I came across a family of 5, (2 adults and 3 teenage children), who were each carrying bags of groceries from our Food Giveaway. 

They didn’t know me, so they were talking freely.

What surprised me was what the young girl, (about 13 years old), said “How cool is this! We get to eat dinner tonight”!

I was a little surprised because, doing what we do, week after week, we sometimes forget the huge impact our charity, Community Friends, have on people’s lives and that some people in Brisbane do not eat every day.

The second story is a little different, but has a similar theme.

We do not advertise the fact that increasingly we provide a 7 day emergency food relief service.  We do not advertise it as we already have a food shortage and the more we give away on a weekday or weekend, the less we have for the hundreds of disadvantaged and homeless people that queue up at our weekly Wednesday Food giveaway at Bunyapa Park, West End .

Secondly, those that have access to the food, are already volunteering many hours for Community Friends, some with serious health issues so we are mindful of not over-stretching our small band of dedicated volunteers. 

One of our Directors, told me how he had a young woman recently out for help, asking for some groceries. 

The mother, 2 children, a baby in a stroller and a young school age child, had not eaten for 2 days. Fortunately, we had sufficient food to help them.  

It’s a sad day when you find out about a young Brisbane family going without food.

These stories remind me of what an honour and a privilege it is to work with Community Friends, ensuring that the basic human right to eat is assured.

Please help us to continue our good work, our suppliers are running out of food as the demand for our groceries and meals increases weekly. 

A $20,000 grant would have an enormous impact on our ability to purchase food for the ever growing population of disadvantaged people in Brisbane.

Please remember to vote at:

https://www.weightwatchers.com/au/impactaward

If you would like to donate directly, you can go here.

Community Friends is totally reliant on the generosity of individuals and organisations, businesses and institutions who recognise the good work we carry out. Our volunteers are our unsung heroes. They are motivated individuals and every now and then recognition of their acts, deeds and legacy is pleasantly recognised.

Just a few weeks ago a significant donation was made to our charity thanks to the memory of one such hero – Alex McCreadie. It seems only fit and proper to remember him in this small article.

Alex worked in Youth support for many years and some of those who were his charges all those decades ago remember him fondly as the man who went the extra mile to ensure they were safe, looked after and nurtured.

After retiring Alex became a volunteer with Community Friends and worked tirelessly to help the homeless, the poor and the marginalised. His dedication to his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs was eclipsed only by his motivation to help those in need.

He not only spent most of his week working with Community Friends but at weekends he would be found working in the Kitchens of Ozcare preparing food for the homeless.

It should have come as no surprise to us that someone from his past felt he impacted their life so positively that they donated a large sum to us in his memory.

Alex sadly passed away in 2014 after a long battle with illness. That illness never saw him waiver when it came to assisting those in distress or need. A larger than life character he’s sadly missed by us all at Community Friends and clearly his impact  still reverberates today.

Thank you to the Donor for their wonderful generosity.

Ben Godwin

Director

Community Friends

We don’t need to keep repeating the history of the homelessness in Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMJ4W5SST6c&feature=youtu.be

We don’t need to keep repeating the history of the homelessness in Australia. This why Community Friends is an essential part of homelessness prevention in Brisbane. 

Can you help us? Do you have a premises or work where a Food Donation Box would successfully collect a reasonable amount of food for us? Can you buy Food Donation Boxes for us? Can you sponsor Food Donation Boxes for us? Do you have a connection that can help us acquire van for Food Donation Boxes pick-ups? We don’t need to own the van, we just need to have full access to it. Do you have a storage area we can use?  

People know that they can come to Community Friends in West End every Wednesday and hopefully get enough food for themselves for 3 days. This is an enormous stress release for them. It enables them to prioritise paying their rent. 

Without Community Friends they would have to decide, am I going to eat enough this fortnight and be homeless or am I going to pay my rent and eat from dumpsters, rubbish bins, beg for food or steal from people/shops/houses or use violence to get money or a combination of the above etc. 

These are decisions that people make every week. Once they decide to not pay their rent for one fortnight, they can easily spiral into chronic homelessness and poverty.  

The problem Community Friends is having, is that we used to always say “we provide enough food for our clients for 3 or 4 days every week”. We can’t say that anymore.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxkvp-57EW4&feature=youtu.be

If you can’t help us as listed above, then maybe you can spare 50 cents a day to help someone in need. www.communityfriends.org.au/donate

As always, if you can’t afford that, maybe we can help you. 

You are welcome to collect food (or check us out, to make sure we are the real deal) at the corner of Vulture Street and Thomas Street West End 4101 (39 Thomas Street West End 4101).  

We recommend people arrive 2:30pm for a 3:00pm start every Wednesday. 

This is a genuine plea. We NEED help. 

A very proud moment for Community Friends this morning. Some of our volunteers have been awarded an Australia Day award for service to our community. We know this is a controversial date for many but we stand proud to be recognised for the hard work our charity does and will utilise this opportunity to call out for help.We work hard every day to ensure no one goes hungry in West End and beyond. People are travelling from further and further afield to our free grocery and meal giveaway on Wednesdays in Bunyapa Park, West End at 3pm. We supply emergency food parcels 24/7.We receive ZERO government money.We are trying to raise money to purchase food donations bins to be placed in and around Brisbane.We desperately need the funds to buy a truck with a hoist to deliver these bins.We need sponsors for the bins.We need locations.We need volunteers to source sponsors and locations.Please, please help. www.communityfriends.org.au/donate or phone 0405366520 for sponsorship enquiries. (We will ensure you get plenty of credit both on social media, our website and on the bin for your sponsorship).

THE GRIFFITH AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS

The Griffith Australia Day Awards recognise volunteers who perform extraordinary or outstanding voluntary work in the Griffith electorate. The former Member for Griffith, the Hon Kevin Rudd AC, established these awards in 2000. You can find the full list of recipients below.

The current Member, Terri Butler MP, has continued the tradition while in office. For over twenty years, outstanding local volunteers have been honoured with these awards. The recipients are selected by a committee of eminent locals, and conferred by Terri Butler MP.

The 2021 recipients

The 2021 Griffith Australia Day Awards Recipients are:

Candi Kelly, Barny Barnhill, Julie Barnhill, Andrew Grace, Noel Murray, Carl McAlevey, Rodger Graf and Bernard Goodwin – Community Friends

Outstanding volunteers at Community Friends, 2021

26 January 2021

Community Friends is a local South Brisbane registered charity organisation that provides various levels of support for disadvantaged individuals in West End and greater Brisbane.

The organisation provides thousands of meals each week for free to those living on the street and on the poverty line at serious risk of homelessness. The outstanding volunteers receiving awards are:

• Ms Candi Kelly: Candi has done an exceptional job, getting the organisation’s website up and going, their social marketing up and going and enthusiastically supporting Community Friends
• Mr Barny Barnhill: Barny has become a Director of Community Friends and has spent many hours at least twice a week collecting food for Community Friends and distributing it.
• Ms Julie Barnhill: Julie (like her husband Barny) spends many hours several times a week, collecting and distributing food to people in need.
• Mr Andrew Grace: Andrew not only collects food weekly for Community Friends but he also does Community Friends Accounting Bookwork.
• Mr Noel Murray: Noel has been collecting food and distributing it several times a week for Community Friends. He has worked tirelessly to support the homeless and disadvantaged within the West End region. He has been doing this for about 7 years.
• Mr Carl Mcalevey: Carl spends a couple of days a week collecting food and distributing it for Community Friends. He has worked tirelessly to support the homeless and disadvantaged within the West End region.
• Mr Rodger Graf (Creative Cuisine): Rodger has been supporting Community Friends for 10 years through donations and other support. 

Luanne Carter – Royals Netball Club

Nicole Carey – Camp Hill P&C Association

Bill Dahl – Lions Club of Brisbane Camp Hill Carindale

Jeff Croll – Brisbane Holland Park Lions Club

Chris Dawson and Tracey Olivieri – Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery

Stephanie Ford – Norman Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee

Angela Christodoulou – Queensland Koala Society

Bailey Newbold – Holland Park Meals on Wheels

The Easts Tigers Committee

Cate Vickers – Bulimba Community Centre

Ali Kadri – Charity Australia, Islamic Society of Holland Park and Islamic Council of Queensland

Linda Francis – Bulimba Hockey Club

Elizabeth Cowie – House Conspiracy and Kurilpa Futures

The announcement and the ceremony

The Awards are intended to be inclusive. The Griffith Australia Day Awards ceremony is an important event on the local calendar. In recent years, though the awards have continued to be announced on Australia Day, the awards ceremony has been held later in the year. 

The Awards Committee

The awards are announced following a committee review process. The 2021 committee is Mr Craig Bowen OAM (chair), former Deputy Premier the Hon Paul Lucas, and former Councillor Ms Faith Hopkins.

Find out more

You can learn more about the Griffith Australia Day Awards, including the categories, the selection criteria, the arrangements for announcement, the ceremony and the nomination process, here.

Story – Kathy Edwards, write and volunteer for Community Friends

It is a motto that by which Caroline lives.

It is a particularly powerful motto, given what is behind Caroline. For more than 12 years, she lived in her car, unable to get work and unable to find suitable housing. Even more striking, is that for much of that time, she had her four children with her.

“Some of the places we stayed in,” she says “were just a nightmare. They were unsafe and frightening, and many times, we just had to leave.”

Caroline is originally from Far North Queensland but, when she fell on hard times, she and her children drifted south.

“Honestly,” she says of those difficult years, “my guitar saved me. I was unable to get work and didn’t know what to do. I had learned to play the guitar many years before and one day when I was living in Toowoomba, I picked one up and just kept practising. Slowly, I got better and started busking. That was how I survived.”

Of course, this time was also tough on her children who couldn’t go to school and, Caroline also had to homeschool them all. 

I consider it to be one of my greatest achievements that my kids have all turned into good people,” she says. “They learned to stick together and not judge people unfairly. I have five grandchildren now, which makes me so proud.”

Things started to get better for Caroline when her (now) partner saw her performing and asked her to come and perform with him. “He scooped me up and whisked me away to Brisbane,” she smiles.

Caroline is new to our giveaway – she has only been coming for two weeks, but she has been surprised and delighted  by how free of judgment the event is – and how delightful is everyone she  has met.

“I know first-hand how valuable are organisations like this one. And right now, with COVID, so many people are really struggling.” 

Although she hasn’t finalised her plans yet, Caroline has also offered to play music on our Giveaway on Christmas Day. “Music is my way of giving back and, I’d love to help add some festive cheer.”

Christmas 2020

2020 has been challenging year to say the least.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped support us throughout the year. I want to tell you about how many people you have allowed us to help in 2020. Each week we have helped lighten the load of at least 250 people and the people they share their food with, at our weekly giveaways. The demand has been so high, that we do our regular food giveaway on Wednesdays and special giveaway for the students at TAFE Queensland on Thursdays.

I also want to tell you that Community Friends isn’t just about the numbers. It is about people. It is about Ben who has been coming to our give-away for years and who just this week went in for life-saving surgery. And Rap, who has recently managed to find a place of his own after many years of living in shared housing. And Caroline who spent more than 12 years living in her car before she was able to get back on her feet.

So many stories. So many people. So much hope.

But yesterday as I stood in Big W, the store awash with cheap plastic baubles and metallic tinsel, I picked up a book by Australian writer William McInnes and found this gem.

“It is because the world can be so wretched that we are gifted Christmas” William McInnes.

And I realised that this year, my Christmas message to you is simple.

Please come and share the gift of Christmas Day with us at our biggest community event of the year.

2020 has been a wretched year. I think there is barely a person on the planet who would disagree. But together, hand-in-hand and one day at a time, we made it.

So let’s celebrate together. With your help, no one needs to spend Christmas alone in Brisbane, Caboolture, Logan, Ipswich and the Redlands/Moreton Bay area.

Everyone is welcome. No matter what reason you want to join us – you are welcome. 

The barbecues will be going from 7.30am, and there will be plenty of festive food and loads of good cheer. The address is the corner of Boundary Street and Russell Street, West End.

We are delighted to help out with gifts for both children and adults. If you have someone in mind, please send an email and let us know the details and we’ll do our best to get them what they are after.

Or, if you can, please bring a gift. Please wrap it if you can and describe the kind of person the gift would suit. We’ll hand them out on the day for a little extra happiness.

One of my favourite things about this day is no one can tell which of our guests are homeless and disadvantaged, which ones are volunteers, donors or just people who happen to be lonely and looking for company.

Some of our guests have been coming since 2010, and for others, this will be their first year.

Our Christmas Day giveaway is an event for everyone. Please bring something if you can (if you could shoot me a quick email and let me know what you are bringing) – that would help a lot. Please remember – we need you to keep hot food, hot and cold food, cold.)

And finally, I’d like to remind you that Community Friends doesn’t receive any Government funding and yet our Christmas Day community event is one of the largest and most vibrant in Brisbane.

We don’t have a large bank account and in the last 30 days it dropped $10,000. I don’t regret any of the money we spent. We have to have insurance. We had to buy food, and we had to pay our fuel account. We couldn’t have done this if it wasn’t for our donors who make regular fortnightly or monthly donations. We are happy that people give us one off donations, but fortnightly or monthly donations help sustain the organisation over the longer term.

We’d love to take your gestures of love and turn them into real help that is helping real people.

• 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your help this year. I hope we see you on Christmas Day and may 2021 be prosperous and happy year for you and your friends and family.

Please share.

When I caught up with Scott for this interview, he was having a good day. In all the years we have known him, he has never been despondent. He is always upbeat and excited to talk to us about toys or games or clothes. He’d just spent the morning second-hand shopping with his Dad. While Scott is over 40 years old, he still loves the same things he did as a child. Some people may even say he talks and get excited the same way he did when he was a child. He loves comics, comic tee shirts/watches and going to Movie World. That is just the way his mind works and it will never change. He always make sure to find Mark and talk to him every week, to tell him about what is new with his world. Amongst other things, he’d scored some C-Ds by the Veronicas for $1.00 each. 

Talking with Scott though, you get the feeling that he manages to find something to be happy about most days. He’s just that kind of guy. It was a bleak stormy afternoon, but the weather didn’t dim his smile even a little, he just cheerfully made sure that his umbrella was protecting me.

As luck would have it, the other good thing about that day was that there was free Dominos pizza on offer at the giveaway, in addition to all their other food. It turns out pizza is Scott’s favourite food.

So, Scott was a little distracted when we spoke, but he still managed to tell me that he loves coming to the food giveaway, not just because of the food but also because it gives him the chance to catch up with friends. Community Friends is a very important part of Scott’s support network. We love him and accept him for way he is. The place wouldn’t be the same without him.

He has been coming to the giveaway for so many years, that he can’t even remember when he first heard about it. It helps him make ends meet, he says, which isn’t always easy.

Scott has been living in South Brisbane for many years. He works at Rocklea Wesley Mission 3 days a week. His main job is packing shampoo, and he has been there for more than_15 years. 

Even though he’s been there so long, Scott says he has no plans to leave – it is easy to reach by train, and he enjoys the work. 

When our photographer arrived, Scott posed like a natural and then suddenly remembered his new red shoes, asking us to make sure they were in the photo. They are his favourites.

Thanks to Kathy Wilson for this story.

By Kathy Wilson (Author) and Community Friends volunteer.

I first notice Rap as he is standing in line at Bunyapa Park, waiting for the food giveaway to start. With a tartan kilt, long beard and rockstar headphones, he is the kind of person who stands out in a crowd.  I approach, a little intimidated, but his smile is warm as he turns to me. I ask him if we can take a photo. He laughs “it’s the kilt isn’t it?” he asks. It is, but it is more than that. There is a lifetime of stories in his face, and I want to know more. I start by asking him how long he has been coming to the food giveaway. “Years,” he says. “A friend of mine used to do something similar, but then he sadly passed away. Mark stepped in, and I’ve been coming ever since. It is the best in the area.”  When I ask him what the weekly food giveaway means to him, Rap doesn’t have to think about his answer. “Freedom,” he says instantly. “The giveaway gives me freedom.” I ask him to tell me more, and now he does pause, as he searches for the right words.  “You feel welcome when you come down here,” he says. “These guys here aren’t looking at you like you are somehow less. They aren’t always telling you to leave. They are decent about everything, and they want to help. It feels like this is our community and our community park.”  Community means a lot to Rap.  A long-term West End resident he has recently moved into his own place in Highgate Hill. He was living in a noisy lodge on Boundary street that never felt like home. Just before April the local police got involved and said they’d see if they could help. They called him shortly after to say they had good news. He had a place.   “It feels so good to have my own space,” he says. “It is hard to describe the feeling after so long, not feeling safe.”  Rap has ideas about what the area needs, and it isn’t more coffee shops. “West End needs more places where there are activities – things to do together. I’d love to open a roller skating rink,” he says. “A place where people can just hang out. Somewhere along Montague Road would be perfect.”   Who knows? Maybe that’s next. Rap has been playing the same numbers on lotto, PowerBall and set for life for more than 8 years. If his number comes up, that’s how he’d like to give back to the community that has helped him so much.

Till next time Mark McDonnell (Founder) Community Friends.    Donate Now  Community Friends is a registered charity and does not receive any  government funding. Donations of $2.00 or more are tax deductible in Australia.     Copyright © 2020 Community Friends Ltd, All rights reserved.

Mark McDonnell

Christmas Day Breakfast and Lunch

Every Christmas Day, we hold a free Community Christmas breakfast(from 7:30am) and lunch (from 11am) on Christmas Day. We have our homeless and/or disadvantaged clients attend. We also have many members of our community come, who like to share some time with us, our clients and others in the community.

We would love for you, your family and/or friends to join us. Please come and help us make this a community-based Christmas to remember. Some of our clients may need some help with food, or help with feeling welcome, or just being included. Some thrive on having someone willing to listen to their story or just feeling accepted as part of the community.

It will be easy to identify some of our clients as being homeless/disadvantaged, but others you won’t be able to identify, and that is good. We want our Christmas Day event to be a community event for everyone. Christmas Day can be a very lonely day for some. Your companionship or smile can make the world of difference to those who come.

We often don’t know the impact we have on others. A cheery face, a smile and an open ear can make a huge impact on someone.

If you would like to bring something, please do. Just let us know and make sure you keep perishable hot food, hot (over 60 degree Celsius) or perishable cold foods, cold (under 5 degrees Celsius). 

It is being held at the same place we have been having our Christmas Day event for the past 10 years. It is at the corner of Russell St and Boundary St West End, Brisbane. We kick off at 7:30am and finish about 1:30pm. Come anytime you like. Feel free to leave when you like. Bring friends and family. The more the merrier.

If you have any further questions or want to let us know what you are bringing, either ring Candi on 0405 366 520 (or myself if you are unable to contact Candi). My phone number is 0418 754 900. Candi can be emailed at candi@communityfriends.org.au

We will also have some Christmas presents for people of all ages. If you want to bring a present, please label the present for who it is targeted at. For example, gift for girl/boy aged 7 to 11 years of age, gift for man, gift for woman.

Please share this email/post with your friends and family.  

Every Wednesday, (rain, hail or sunshine) we have around 150+ homeless and/or disadvantaged people turn up to our food giveaway. In addition to perishable and non-perishable food, we also offer several hot meals to all our clients every Wednesday. We like to give away sufficient food for 3 or 4 days for everyone who attends. If you know someone or a family who needs food assistance, please refer them to us. We are here to help.

(For the sake of clarity, legal and insurance purposes, members of the community who attend aren’t considered “volunteers”, but as members of the community who have decided to join us on this day).

Please donate here.

Till next time Mark McDonnell (Founder) Community Friends.    Community Friends is a registered charity and does not receive any  government funding. Donations of $2.00 or more are tax deductible in Australia.     Copyright © 2020 Community Friends Ltd, All rights reserved.

“We have come dangerously close

to accepting the homeless situation as a problem

that we just can’t solve.”

Linda Lingle 

Eight (8) years ago “Derek” lost his job as a kitchen-hand. The owners of the café had some financial issues and had to close the business down. Initially Derek did some “couch surfing” (sleeping on friends’ couches) but when the owners of the properties found out the renters had an extra person staying there, he had to move on. As is frequently the case when people become homeless, their friends stop inviting them around and before they know it, they no longer have any friends willing to support them. They become increasingly isolated and their previous support systems no longer exist.

Surprisingly, Derek is 42 years old. He looks older, living on the streets for 8 years has aged him. There are 2 issues keeping Derek homeless. Firstly, being homeless is not conducive to maintaining a job. He has been for job interviews. He says, he can tell that some of the employers have wanted to offer him a job, but when they find out he was homeless, they told him they couldn’t offer him a position. Understandably, employers need to know that employees are going to be able to come to work every day as required. They also need to know that employees are going to be able to wear clean clothes and be freshly showered. This is something homeless people can’t do.

The other reason Derek (and many other homeless people) remain homeless is related to their functioning ability.

If we rate everyone’s functioning ability on a scale of between 0 and 100, we will find that some people on this scale are very high functioning people. For example, captains of industry, Olympic champions or internationally renowned medical specialists may have a functioning ability score of between 80 to 100. When everything is going well and they have full support and a reduced level of stress, they may function at 100. However, when they are having family and relationship problems, medical and financial issues, their functioning ability may drop to 80.

However, some people may have a functioning ability ranging from 20 to 50. When they are well supported and their needs are being meet, they function at a level of 50. However, if they became homeless, with no emotional or physical support with increasing levels of stress and ill health, their functioning ability may drop to a score of 20. When this happens, they may not be able to recover without a large amount of resources (such as permanent supportive housing) being used to lift them up.

I suggest that Derek is one of those people who has an innate functioning ability of between 50 and 20. When he was employed he was able to function adequately, however when he lost his job and his world fell apart his functioning ability dropped to 20. I believe he won’t be able to recover unless some organisation takes him on and is in a position to offer him the accommodation and support he needs. Community Friends supports permanent supportive housing but regrettably do not have the resources to offer it to those in need. 

I gave Derek some money the day that I spoke to him, as did another Community Friends supporter, who saw me talking to him on the footpath.

If you would like to help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, you can through Community Friends. You can donate through PayPal by clicking here.

Or you can make automatic direct debits through your bank.

Our details are:

Community Friends Bank of Queensland

Account number 218 08 940BSB  124-050

OR Payroll deductions can be made through your payroll department, giving them the above bank details.

IF you are able to commitment to support Community Friends automatically on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis though bank transfers, PayPal or payroll deductions etc. please, please do so. It makes a real difference knowing that money is coming in each week to pay our bills.

We receive no government funding.

All donations are tax deductible.

Till next time

Mark McDonnell (Founder) Community Friends.

http://www.facebook.com/communityfriendswestend

Community Friends is a registered charity and does not receive any  government funding. Donations of $2.00 or more are tax deductible in Australia.

 M. K. Clinton

Meet Georgie, our newest team member.

This is Georgie. She is a little over 5 months old. She is half Golden Retriever and half German Shepherd.

We decided a little while ago to introduce pet therapy into our service.

Pet therapy has a long history in helping sick and disadvantaged people. In Belgium, in the ninth century, animals were used to support handicapped people. In 1790, they replaced physical restraint in an asylum (The York Retreat), with kindness, understanding and importantly therapy animals. In the 1800’s in Germany, pets were encouraged for people who had epilepsy. Many nursing homes today either have permanent pets or visiting pets to make the life of those living at n aged care facility more enjoyable.

Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world with 63% of households having a pet. There are 19 dogs for every 100 people.

There has been much research done of the effects of pets. They have been shown to:

Lower blood pressure,

Reduce systolic blood pressure and reduce triglycerides,

Release endorphins (Oxytocin) that have a calming effect,

Diminishes overall physical pain,

Decreases feelings of isolation and alienation,

Lessens feelings of depression,

Increase socialisation,

Reduces boredom and anxiety and

Reduces loneliness.

As our photos show, our clients approve of our new team member and Georgie loves all the attention they give her.

Those smiles!

Until next time

Mark

Mark McDonnell can be emailed at mark@communityfriends.org.au or phoned on 0418 754 900.

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Till next time

Mark McDonnell

(Founder)

Community Friends.

Community Friends is a registered charity and does not receive any  government funding. Donations of $2.00 or more are tax deductable in Australia.

If you don’t want to receive these emails, just reply with the words UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. We don’t like spam either.

If you have received this from a friend and you would like to subscribe, just email me at mark@communityfriends.org.au and ask to be put on the email list.

“It Puts Back Their Dignity …. Gives Them Respect”.

Last week I was unable to produce newsletter. I’ve been quite busy lately. I’m trying to secure some ongoing funding for Community Friends and I was working on a grant application, last weekend. I just didn’t have the time to write the newsletter. 

I was recently approached by a photography and videography business Saymilk offering their services for a free video production. I accepted and asked them to come to one of our food giveaways and film a video. 

I asked Ben to do the commentary for the video. Not only is Ben a great speaker, but he is an authority on the struggles homeless people go through. In this video Ben talks about the stress of not knowing where your next meal is coming from. He dispels a few myths about homeless people and finally says that giving people 3 or 4 days of food like Community Friends does, puts back their dignity and gives them respect.

It is a short video (3 minutes 10 seconds), but well worth viewing.

https://youtu.be/-wYmofBGWpM

It is a short video (3 minutes 10 seconds), but well worth viewing.

Christmas in July

We had “Christmas in July” last Wednesday at our food give-away. It was a cold and wet day, but the festivities went ahead anyway. We had the barbershop quartet “Laugh at Life” sing up a storm. The quartet is more of a quintet and very enjoyable. Some of the local buskers joined in as well.

We had PresCare come and help out and supply the Christmas in July feast. There were ham steaks, turkey burgers and sausages. One fellow came and asked for 8 burgers to share with a few of his mates. I really appreciate the help that PresCare have been giving us. I have been wanting to do special days for a long time but logistically and cost wise it just hasn’t been an option.

On the photo below, I’m the one with the bigger smile. That’s because Ross Applegarth (on the right) is about to give Community Friends a $2,000 cheque. Ross is part of group of specialist dentists that deals with the more complicated dental problems. Endodontic Group. 

Below are some further photos of the day

Till next time

Mark McDonnell

(Founder)

Community Friends.

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Community Friends is a registered charity and does not receive any  government funding. Donations of $2.00 or more are tax deductable in Australia.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, 

to be honourable, to be compassionate,

to have it make some difference that you have

 lived and lived well.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Fallacy of “A Hand Up Not A Hand Out”

 I have touched on this subject before in one of my newsletters, but I think it is worth mentioning again.

There are some capable people who end up homeless because of life circumstances. I know of one international corporate executive, who in his younger years, ended up being homeless for a period of time. But people like this aren’t common. 

I’d like to talk about one young man who was referred to me recently by a homeless shelter.

This man (“Jacob”) in his 20’s had looked at a house I recently set up for homeless people a few weeks ago. He said he was interested in living there and that was the last I heard from him. On Thursday he turned up unannounced and said he was moving in. This caused a few problems, but we worked around these issues.

When I saw him on Friday, he had no money, no food and was hungry. Being Easter Friday, most supermarkets were closed and even Creative Cuisine (our frozen food supplier) was closed. We had no food in storage, so he went without on Friday. It’s not ideal, but lots of people in Brisbane don’t eat every day.

On Saturday morning, I bought Jacob a $100 Coles gift voucher and went to Creative Cuisine and picked up 50 frozen dinners for Jacob and the others living there.

On Saturday afternoon I received a phone call from someone who lives in the house with Jacob. They said Jacob had locked himself out of his room. Back I go to the property to let him in and see that his windows are wide open. I climb in the window and open up his door. He just didn’t think to climb in his window.

I noticed Jacob hadn’t made his bed. We had bought him a new sheet set for his bed. I asked him why he didn’t make his bed. He said the sheet didn’t fit. Jacob was trying to use the top sheet as the bottom sheet and the bottom sheet was in the cupboard, (because he didn’t know what to do with it).

I made his bed for him.

Jacob wants a job in Coles, but he will never get a job in Coles. He is so intellectually impaired that he will always need a “hand out”. We can (and will) try and give him a “hand up”, but the reality is that he will always need to be supported. It is not his fault, it is just the way it is. He was dealt a bad deal in life.

So the next time you hear someone say the homeless or disadvantaged need a hand up and not a hand out, you will know the truth. Some people will need a hand out for the rest of their life. That is just the reality of the situation and no slogan can change that.

We rely completely on donations and receive no government money.

if you could donate the cost of a cup of coffee a day or a dollar a day, we would really appreciate it. Even 50 cents a day would help. If you can’t afford that, then maybe we can help you with a food parcel every week. These are tough times. Either way, maybe you can help us, or we can help you.

The choice is yours. 

Go to our donate tab on this website or deposit to:

Community Friends

Bank of Queensland

BSB 124001

A/c no. 21808940

Tax deductible. 

Till next time
Mark McDonnell
(Founder)
Community Friends.

“Every single thing you do matters. You have been created as one of a kind. You have been created in order to make a difference. You have within you the power to change the world.”
Andy Andrews

It has been a busy few weeks. We have been giving away about three times the amount we did pre-Covid-19. We used to have between 100 and 150 people a week turn up. We are now having over 230+ people turn up on Wednesdays AND we do a special trip on Thursdays just for the students at TAFE Qld because so many of their students have lost their only income since Covid-19.

Our line started in a car park and went  up and down several times, down the Russell Street and around the corner and down O’Connell St. We have now moved to Bunyapa Park at 68 Vulture Street, West End due to the huge increase in numbers.

The Butterfly Effect is a popular hypothetical proposition that asserts how small initial differences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time. It is based on a 2004 science fiction movie called “The Butterfly Effect”.   I’d like to demonstrate how the Butterfly Effect has worked on Community Friends. In 2011, I took some homeless people I helped house to a free food giveaway. I was unimpressed with the quality of some of the food. I passed comment (probably unjustly), that this food was disgraceful and “I could do better than this”. This was the beginning of “The Butterfly Effect”. Two weeks later, one of the people who heard my comment said, “Mark, I have your first 60 people who want your food help”. “What?” I said. They said, “You said you could do better and I have 60 people who want your food help”. I either had to put up or shut up. I decided to give it ago. Every week for eight months, with the help of my former homeless people, I gave out bread and bread products to people in need. That Christmas a friend mentioned at a party that if anyone had any unwanted clothes, he could pass them on to me to be given to people in need. One of the people at the party asked, “Does he want any food?” Greg, my friend said. “I guess so”. This was the start of the relationship between Community Friends and Rodger Graf from Creative Cuisine. Time progresses and young man named Richard offered to do a video for us. This is what he did for us.

Next is where the Butterfly Effect kicks in again. Richard liked what he saw, and talked to people in his church. They decided to set up their own weekly food giveaway under the Turbot St Bridge.  But the butterfly effect didn’t stop there. I have several examples where this happened a number of times. For the sake of brevity I won’t out line them now, but if you’re interested email me or ask for the information on our Facebook post.  I’m not sure of the philosophical meaning (if there is one) for the Butterfly Effect, but I can tell you it gives meaning to my life and meaning to many of our volunteers and our half a dozen or so, regular donors.

 I no longer worry about our financial situation. We will support as many people as our resources dictate.  However, we still need your help. Enthusiasm, high hopes and expectations will only take us so far. All the Directors of Community Friends donate to this organisation. If you could donate the cost of a cup of coffee a day or a dollar a day, we would really appreciate it. Even 50 cents a day would help. If you can’t afford that, then maybe we can help you with a food parcel every week. These are tough times. Either way, maybe you can help us, or we can help you.

The choice is yours. 

Community Friends

Bank of Queensland

BSB 124001

A/c no. 21808940

Tax deductible. 

Till next time
Mark McDonnell
(Founder)
Community Friends.

                     

It has been a challenging few weeks for Community Friends. The rules regarding what can and cannot be done has changed a few times. Two weeks ago, we had to cancel our food giveaway. We couldn’t meet the social distancing requirements.

Again, we couldn’t meet the social distancing requirements last week.

However, I received a call for help from TAFE Queensland. They have over 2000 international students. Quite a number of them are experiencing extreme hardship. A lot of them require casual employment in restaurants etcetera to help pay their rent, tuition and food expenses. With all restaurants closed and limited to takeaway only, most of the students have lost their job.

I’ve met too many students who have ended up in the sex industry at one time or another because of financial hardship. So, I take it quite seriously when I hear of students who are having difficulty making ends meet. 

I saw our friends at Creative Cuisine, Foodbank and FareShare and put together a large quantity of frozen meals for the students.

                                             

One thing that surprised me about this episode, is that TAFE Queensland told me that they had approached a number of charities and had been knocked back because they were international students. I think if someone is suffering then we should help them if we can. I’m also aware that a large part of Queensland’s income comes from international students. They have supported our economy for many years, so I think it’s only fair that we support them in this time of need.

Following discussions with the Brisbane South Public Health Network and the West End Police we will be starting our food giveaway again this week. We worked out a way to meet the social distancing requirements.

CAN YOU HELP US?  There is a charity in New South Wales called “Shoes for Planet Earth”. When they get offered a bundle of shoes in Brisbane, they offer them to us. We are very grateful for this. We recently came across a large quantity of flip-flops (thongs). I offered them to Shoes for Planet Earth and they gratefully accepted them. Initially, Linfox said they would transport them to Sydney for us at no cost. They later withdrew that offer. I asked them how much it would cost for us to send them to Sydney, they didn’t reply. I then approached Toll Holdings. They didn’t reply to my first email, so I sent another email. In this email, they also refuse to help us. Can you help us? If you know anyone in the transport industry can you speak to them for us please? We want to move about 25 boxes (about 8 kg per box) to Sydney.  CAN YOU HELP THESE CHILDREN?  Community Friends sometimes receive donations of excess stock. We currently have many, many new water bottles which we pass onto other charities. One charity in Toowoomba has requested a number of these water bottles. This charity helps children who come into care with very few belongings, often in emergency situations. These children are removed due to abuse/neglect, the removal is often traumatic and doesn’t lend much time or opportunity for the children to enter care with many belongings. We would like to give them 2 boxes of water bottles (200 water bottles). If you can help get these water bottles to Toowoomba, I’m sure the children would appreciate it. ALSO Do you know a truck refrigeration mechanic or a business that does this type of work? We are having trouble with one of our fans or fan belts in our refrigeration unit in the truck. We recently spent close to $2000 servicing and repairing our truck, so it would be great if someone could fix this refrigeration issue for the cost of the parts only.

Till next time Mark McDonnell (Founder) Community Friends

THANK YOU!

First up, I’d like to say thank you to the people who gave us some financial donations after the last newsletter. We raised close to $1800. This was quite close to the target of $2120. Can you afford 50 cents a day to help feed and house the people in need? If so we would be very grateful for your assistance with our work. If you cant afford that, then maybe we can help you?

Donate here

TOM IS IN A TAILSPIN AS HE TRIES TO FUND AN AIRLINE TICKET TO SYDNEY AND BACK TO SUPPORT HIS MOTHER WHO HAS LIVER CANCER .

I have known “Tom” for about five years now. It doesn’t matter what season we are in, Tom is always wearing long pants, long sleeve shirt, and usually suit jacket or sports coat and a hat. I’ve always assumed that this is his way of helping him to maintain his dignity. It is also a long time between the laundering of his clothes.

Whenever I ask Tom how he is going, he always replies “good, good”. Last Wednesday I decided to engage him more. I said to him that he always says he’s going “good”. I then said life can’t be easy for you, is it?

He said his mother is in Sydney and has liver cancer. He said they are operating on her next month. He said compared to his mother, he is doing well and that is true. He went on to say that had tried to save up some money for a rainy day. He wasn’t able to save up much, but what he had, he gave to his mother to help pay for some of her medical expenses.

Fortunately for Tom he knows a number of people who live in Sydney. He has three friends who have agreed to let him stay at their house while he visits and supports his mother. He is now saving up for his trip to Sydney and back. I asked how that was going, he said he was selling off some of his possessions to help fund the trip.

We talk some more and he told me about some of the hassles he is having with seeing his son. Tom is divorced from his wife.

What occurred to me after this conversation was that it takes a lot less to send him into a crisis than the average person. Besides that, he has the same types of crises and hassles that we all have, with a couple of exceptions.

The first is that he stands out from the crowd because of the untidy, unkempt and he wears unseasonable clothes.

Secondly, when he incurs some unexpected, relatively inexpensive costs such as an air ticket to Sydney and back, he has to go to severe measures to meet these costs. While he has acknowledged that he is selling some of his possessions to meet these costs, my experience tells me that there is a high chance he is taking out a short-term loan with one of the many secondhand shops.

Usually the minimum loan term is 2 months and there is a maximum loan period of 12 months. The average loan incurs a $400 establishment fee and has an interest rate of 48%.

At Community Friends we don’t help people fund these types of costs. Our main aim is to fund our food, our truck and transportation costs, and our insurance costs. It is surprising how much these expenses are.

As for Tom, we will continue to focus on giving him emotional supporting needs and to help him by providing food for his everyday living.

* Since this story was written, the federal government has announced a one off Centrelink bonus of around $750. This may or may not arrive before Tom goes to Sydney. In either case, he will be able to pay off any loan he takes to fly to Sydney.

DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER

YOU NO LONGER NEED?

Some of you may have remembered a story I wrote about one of our clients “Rivers”. I have copied and pasted the story below in case you are new to Community Friends.

Rivers wants to be more computer literate, but he needs a computer to do this. Our existing supporters who helps us with acquisitions of secondhand computers aren’t in a position to help us at present.

So, I am asking you if you have a computer you no longer need. If you don’t have one, can you ask your friends and work colleagues please.

In case you were wondering, Rivers feels the grinding of the upper bones in his neck all the time. He still won’t seek help for this neck fracture.

The Original “Rivers” story.

“Rivers” was left for dead when he was hit by a car at 4am.
A couple of months ago, I had a knock on my front door at 9am. It was “Rivers”. He was holding his little finger. His finger looked like it had been put in a pencil sharpener and sharpened to a fine point

I asked him what had happened. He said he thought he must have been hit by a car on his bike. He was riding his bike, then he woke up on the road. His bike was seriously damaged. It was about 4am in the morning.

Naturally I asked him why he hadn’t woke me up earlier, he said he didn’t want to wake me up.’

I took Rivers to the Princess Alexandra Hospital Emergency Department. They admitted him and amputated part of his finger. About 3 days later I received a phone call from the hospital. They said Rivers was signing himself out of the hospital. They wanted to put a halo brace on his head to stabilise it. He had fractured 2 of his top vertebra.
I counselled Rivers about his decision, but he was adamant that all he needed was good food, sunshine and exercise. He is still walking although he admits he can feel his vertebra grinding from time to time.

Till next time
Mark McDonnell
(Founder)
Community Friends.

Back in June we were featured in a story by The ABC highlighting our struggle to keep up with demand as the queues of disadvantaged grows weekly during The Pandemic Crisis. . Read the full story here

This newsletter I would like to make it a little lighter than some of our other posts.

We have a picture here of Bessang or Mr. Muscles as we like to call him. Mr. Muscles comes with both his parents to our food giveaway. He likes to get in line with everybody else, and help carry the food out of the truck and put it on the tables.

• 

I am not sure how some people will take this article. For some, it may seem that I have been harsh for not providing accommodation sooner. For others, they will understand.

About 12 months ago, Officer Sandy from the West End police station asked me if I could find accommodation for a man in his mid-30s (“Stephen”). At the time he was sleeping rough in the small park where we do the food giveaway. I told her was unable to help him. The reason I felt I couldn’t help him was because he was using ICE (or methamphetamine). This is a terrible drug. It is highly addictive and can change the personality of the person totally. ICE makes a lot of people become violent and hostile. I couldn’t subject others in the accommodation to a new person who would probably assault and threaten them. I didn’t explain my reasons to Officer Sandy for not being able to help him.

On Wednesday (15-01-20) Stephen asked me again if I could find him some accommodation. I told him I couldn’t help him. I then heard one of the directors of Community Friends asked him how long he’d been clean for. He said for about six months. With that, I told him to see me after the food giveaway.

I asked him what was going on with him and his ICE usage. He said six months ago he started to decrease his usage. Four months ago, he gave it up altogether. That is quite an act of self-control. He now tells me he hates the use of ICE. He knows what damage it can do to himself and to others around him.

I told him I would find him accommodation. I also told him that if he ever uses ICE again, he won’t be able to stay in the new place I am organising for him. I also told him that if a steady stream of people come to visit him, he won’t be able to live there anymore. What this means is if he starts to sell any illegal drugs, he will be evicted. He said only his friends and family will visit him. He doesn’t want any association with any drug users.

What Community Friends have been able to do for Stephen this week is find him accommodation, reduce his food costs, and provided him with a support network. We also bought him a new phone. He asked for the phone because he says he is a horticulturist by trade. He said this phone will enable him to find some work.

Community Friends will be there to help support Stephen as the need arises. We wish him all the best.

And as our logo says, real people, real needs, real help.

Till next time Mark McDonnell (Founder) Community Friends.

Every year, Community Friends has a community Christmas Day lunch where everyone is welcome. It doesn’t matter if you are homeless, struggling to make ends meet or James Packer or Gina Reinhart, you are welcome to our Christmas lunch. It is a great way to spend time on Christmas Day and we would like you to come. It is held at the small park in Boundary St West End (155 Boundary St West End). Near the corner of Boundary St and Russell St West End. Officially, the lunch starts at 11am but we have people turning up from 9am. If you can come and bring something to help share the Christmas spirit all the better. Last year, one little girl told me how she made these Rudolf biscuits. There was a sign that went with them that said they were “made with love”. Some people like to bring presents for those that aren’t as fortunate as they are. If you would like to do this, please write the target group for the present on the outside. For example, “Present for girl ages 7 to 10 years old”. If you would like to bring Coles or Woolworths gift cards, please look for me on the day and I will make sure they are given to the right people. If you would like to bring some food, please email me (mark@communityfriends.org.au) and let me know what you are bringing and how much you are bringing. This way I’ll be able to better organise the lunch. Last year we had about 400 people in total turn up. It is a very special day for me. If you would like to make a donation to help, you can click on the above “Donate Now” or our bank details are: Community Friends Bank of Queensland BSB 124050 Account 21808940 Cheques can be sent to Community Friends 27 Cameron St Fairfield 4103 All donations are tax deductible. Till next time Mark McDonnell (Founder) Community Friends.