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Little things mean a lot, go a long way

Tamra CarrMidwest Times
Inner Wheel Club president Lesley Colliver, left, with Sun City co-ordinator Kate Stewart.
Camera IconInner Wheel Club president Lesley Colliver, left, with Sun City co-ordinator Kate Stewart. Credit: Tamra Carr, The Geraldton Guardian

Humanitarian service operators at Sun City Christian Centre have seen first hand how giving a little can go a long way for locals in need.

The church, which recently received five sleeping bags donated by the Inner Wheel Club of Geraldton, supports people in crisis by providing resources such as food, shelter and clothing.

Sun City care co-ordinator Bonnie Scally said people in need benefited greatly when residents and organisations made donations.

“We receive bread, fruit, vegetables and soup, so we can operate our mobile soup van which goes out into the community once a week,” Mrs Scally said.

“We average about 25 people a night with our soup van, and we hand out about 40 food parcels a week.”

“We also receive clothing and other household items, which go to our thrift shop.

“People can by low-cost items and the proceeds go to buying food for our parcels.”

The sleeping bags donated by the Inner Wheel Club of Geraldton were purchased from international charity Stitches of Hope, which provides work, education and skills training to people in Cambodia.

Mrs Scally said the simple handover of sleeping bags demonstrated the power of social enterprise.

“We have crisis accommodation here, and for many reasons people can’t or don’t want to stay here, but they’re still sleeping rough,” she said.

“We can find those people and give them the sleeping bags.

“For those who need them, donating these items has a huge impact.

“We so appreciate the support of Inner Wheel, especially their initiative to get up and do something about what they see as an issue in the community.

“This kind of thing benefits our community directly, and you can also see how social enterprise benefits the community it came from.

“It’s great that we can help provide employment for people in Cambodia, while helping people here in Geraldton at the same time.”

Inner Wheel purchased 10 sleeping bags from Stitches of Hope, five of which were also donated to the Salvation Army Geraldton.

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