Fifteen months ago an excellent fundraising idea created in the head of my wonderful friend and 'boss' came to fruition: A Vintage Shop themed on the Rat Pack where 100 percent of the proceeds go back to help the homeless.
We worked for a non-profit organisation that
helps the homeless and vulnerable in our community and after many months of
planning, securing a venue, receiving and tagging stock donations, shop fit out
and volunteer drives, we opened the doors of St Pat's Rack on Melbourne Cup day
2012.
Yesterday was our very last day of involvement
with St Pat's and St Pat's Rack and as a shout out and cheerio, LG and I
decided to spend the day at St Pat's Rack to see old friends, at the same time
as raising money and going out on a high note.
What a day it was;
friends we had not managed to catch up with last week at our farewell do showed
up at the shop. All the shop's regular clients appeared too as we sat outside
drinking coffee, encouraging all passers by to come in and grab a bargain with
a feel good factor!
It really proved to me
what a wonderful community building place St Pat's Rack had become in such a
short space of time. It has changed the lives of many people and also changed
people's perception of the homeless and vulnerable.
St Pat's Rack was our baby and we felt sad
that we would no longer be involved, but immensely proud of all that we had
achieved and absolutely delighted that in a year of operations we had raised
$30,000 above our costs.
It is never boring at
the Rack. All walks of life and characters pop their heads in the door,
with some of those wonderful people sharing their amazing talents. Yesterday we
were graced with the presence and performance of a seriously impressive opera
singer from Italy!
LG had the vision,
theme and drive to make this Pop-Up-Shop-with-Soul the success it is. A
MASSIVE thank you goes out to her creativity and attention to detail.
Another huge thank you must go out to all the volunteers who worked in
the shop, without them there would be no shop and no funds raised.
Never underestimate the power of a great idea,
good intent and positive energy. It changes lives and communities.
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