Matt Hewson
An Australian charity is giving Geelong the chance to support an important helpline service for people experiencing loneliness and also grab a bargain.
Not-for-profit Friends for Good will hold its first annual fundraiser in Grovedale next Saturday, March 23, an inclusive community event aiming to raise funds for its popular FriendLine service.
FriendLine receives thousands of calls every month from people around the country experiencing loneliness and social isolation, but recent cuts to its government funding have put the service under threat.
The Friends for Good Community Day, which runs from 9am to 3pm at Grovedale United Services Memorial Hall, will centre around a pre-loved clothing sale with every item priced at $5 – the cost of each call to FriendLine.
The event will also include food trucks, markets stalls, live music and entertainment and a raffle.
Local resident Eleisha Casañas is stepping outside her usual role as the charity’s national research and community education manager, volunteering her time and energy to organise and run the fundraiser.
She said the combination of loss of funding and increasing numbers of incoming calls meant the FriendLine service was struggling to keep up.
“For a lot of people, we’re the only voice that they speak to in the day,” Ms Casañas said.
“We’re struggling at the moment to find the funds to run the FriendLine service and support people experiencing loneliness.
“I find it really heartbreaking that people would be calling and not be able to get through to somebody because we just don’t have the capacity at the moment.”
Ms Casañas thanked the community for its support in donating thousands of items of clothing, some of them brand new, for the fundraiser and encouraged people to come along and find a bargain.
“We’ve priced the clothes at $5 because that’s the price of a FriendLine call, so every little bit of support will go a long way toward us being able to help people,” she said.
Visit www.geelongaustralia.com.au/events for more information.
