Gifting hope to Brisbane's homeless on Christmas day

G'day everyone! We are back again, raising money to purchase gifts to give to Brisbane's homeless on Christmas Morning.

2024 has been a challenging year for all of us. Brisbane in particular has seen amongst the greatest increases in rent, healthcare and energy costs of all Australia's capital cities.

Our rental property market in particular has seen an increase in demand and decrease in supply, with rental costs soaring to on average of 40% of a households weekly living costs.

With this in mind, I'm proud to announce that for the 9th year running, we are raising money to give wrapped Christmas gifts to those who find themselves homeless in Brisbane this year.

These gifts consist of backpacks full of goodies including, but not limited to: An inflatable pillow, sleeping bag, toiletries, a pair of sandals/thongs, an item of clothing of choice, sandwich, chocolate coins, water & a can of soft drink. In the past we have also gifted tents, loaded public transport cards and other specialty items.

I began this initiative Christmas 2015. After landing on tough times myself, I decided to head into Melbourne's CBD to buy food from a 7/11 and hand it to those who were in a much worse situation than me. Since then, the initiative grew beyond expectation, organising with Melbourne City Mission to donate gifts to their youth and raising in total thousands of dollars.

There's something very rewarding about giving a gift to a stranger who's doing it tough. It's the smiles, the tears, the offer of a hug. For these people who don't have a home, by choice or not, we are managing to give them the gift of hope; letting them know that someone wants to give them a gift this year.

When it comes to homeless statistics, the people who are sleeping on the street only make up around 6% of the homeless population. The rest living in overcrowded houses, squatting, or couch surfing between people's places. I'm reaching not even 1% But if we all make 1% effort, that number soon adds up to 10%.

If you have any spare money this year, any donation would be greatly appreciated. This is a non for-profit cause, with all money raised purchasing Christmas gifts for the homeless.

Much love everyone,

Lindsay