Orange Sky's One Dollar Donor
We see donations come through every single day; big and small amounts, regular or once off contributions, funds that have been raised from an event or donated for a cause.
Our Finance Manager, Emma Young (pictured above), has been at the forefront of this since she started with Orange Sky more than two years ago. Since then, she has noticed $1 go into our account every fortnight from an anonymous donor – and she has been desperate to find out who it is.
“I’ve always speculated about who it might be and have wondered if we’d ever be able to thank them. All donations, big or small, mean so much to us at Orange Sky. Every little bit counts,” she said.
“The donor had never given us their contact details so we didn’t know exactly who they were… until now!
“We sent out an email as part of our Christmas campaign and I couldn’t believe it when I saw the message in our inbox.”
It turns out the anonymous donor’s name is Alison. She told us that she’s on an Age Pension and has $1 deducted from her bank account every two weeks. She said that giving regularly to someone who deserves it is “good for the soul” and honestly our hearts could not be any fuller right now.
Emma touched base with Alison as soon as she received the message.
“I told that her that we were so excited to receive her email as we’ve noticed her fortnightly donation for years, and just how much it meant to everyone at Orange Sky and our friends on the street,” she said.
“We are so grateful to have people like Alison who believe in what we do and support us however they can.”
You can read Alison’s original message below:
Dear Orange Sky people.
I am on an OAPension and so I automatically (through my bank) donate $1 – I think it’s every month or every fortnight – from my pension. That’s all I can manage. But I encourage others to do the same. It’s not much but the totals add up, and I’ve been doing this for 2-3 years or even more – I’ve forgotten.
I praise you for your idea and work. God Bless. Have a happy Christmas – be careful, enjoy, laugh and share.
Help to positively connect some of the 116,000 Australians doing it tough.
International Volunteer Day: Meet Helen
Sometimes we wonder if volunteers know the impact that they have on the lives of others; not just the people they encounter through volunteering, but the people they come across in everyday life. At Orange Sky, we are continually blown away by the generosity, kindness and compassion of our volunteers across Australia. We currently have more than 1,500 of them.
Today is International Volunteer Day and we are celebrating our volunteers and highlighting what they do best; sitting down on an orange chair, having a conversation and positively connecting with person in need.
There is no formula that makes up the typical volunteer. There is the university student with a few hours between lectures, the full-time worker who has their evenings free, the parent who has time to spare while the kids are at school, and the retiree who wants to give back after a life of employment. No two volunteers are the same, and yet all similar in the way that they bring people together through connection and genuine conversation.
Helen is one of our volunteers at Orange Sky’s laundry service in Melbourne.
She became a volunteer because she wanted to get involved and help out in a meaningful way – but has felt just as rewarded by the experience.
“We learn about compassion, understanding and acceptance, and so I think a lot of the volunteers really get a lot more out of it than we feel that we give.”
Watch the video below to hear more about Helen’s story.
Volunteer with Orange Sky
What we plan to do with $1 million…
Help to positively connect some of the 116,000 Australians doing it tough.
Keith's Passion for Connection
We met Keith on a cold winter morning in Fitzroy where he told us about a “fella in a wheelchair” that he once met on his way to the shops. The man had a sign resting on the floor asking for donations and was also unable to speak. Keith didn’t have money to offer him, but said “good day” to him in sign language (it was one of the few words Keith could remember in sign language – along with all the vowels).
“It just rung with him and he looked like a different fellow altogether because I’d said good day to him. He was really miserable before that,” Keith said.
It was clear to us to that Keith understood the power of connection and the value of a simple conversation to a person experiencing homelessness. He has first hand experience living many years on the streets of Melbourne feeling disconnected from the community.
“I had my own house once and things happened. I got assaulted on the street and it took me two years before I could walk straight again,” he said.
“I lived in parks and things like that but I didn’t stay in the same place every night, I kept on moving around the suburbs. Once I got used to living in that way, it became a way of life. And then the St Vincent’s Hospital [in Melbourne] found out how I was living and they found me a room to live in. It was a great help.”
Being part of a community is important to Keith. He came to Australia from Manchester in 1956 for the Olympic Games, and said he felt “at home” in Melbourne where the architecture was similar to Manchester.
Keith said he hoped for more understanding across the community for people in tough situations.
“There’s a big gap between people that are right at the bottom end and people that have everything,” he said.
“When you’ve got everything you want and you want more, you’ll have more than you need and you’ll lose sight of other people that are struggling.
“Communication between everyone in the world is a very important thing.”
Interested in joining the team?
Check out our volunteer page to find out more and register to get involved.
Not Just a Shower
“Hi, my name is Pete and it was 18 days since I last had a shower. I live in the middle of a lake and the dirt out there is pretty thick…it’s going to take a few more showers to get that dirt off. I am glad you will be here next week as well.
I have been living at out Lake Richmond now for the last 18 days and I have been homeless on and off for about five or six years. A lot of people couldn’t live how I do. It is a hard life and what makes it even harder is the fact that my partner passed away out there four years ago. Even though that happened, I find it very safe to live there.
I have a daughter, a mother and a sister in Perth but I don’t see them much. They are all upper-class people and when I hit the streets they disowned me…they didn’t want to know me. One of the reasons for this was that I was a bad heroin user. But…I am proud to say that I haven’t used the drug for four years now…when my partner passed away it was a massive wake up call.
I don’t really mix much with anyone. Nearly everyone in the community have no idea about homelessness, they just look down on us. It’s as if we are not part of their community because we don’t live like they do. I feel like no one wants to help us because we will just go and buy drugs or make bad decisions. Not many people want to sit down and hear my story and actually empathise with what got me into this situation.
I first heard about Orange Sky about five or six months ago now. I met you at the Salvation Army and I thought it was a good idea, you don’t get many people supporting the simple things like washing clothes and having showers.
As soon as I spoke with Lisa (Service Manager), I knew I could communicate with her. I don’t connect with many people in the community but there was something about the way she spoke to me that made me at ease. I am a very stubborn person but I was able to have a very normal and easy conversation.
I come here every Friday now and love the idea that I can have a shower and have a chat. It’s ten times as good as any shower I have had in the last five years. I feel like a new man, it’s very good that you have come along.”
Interested in joining the team?
Check out our volunteer page to find out more and register to get involved.
Dot's Impact
That’s Dot O’Neill, she’s 76 years old and has been volunteering at Transit in Narre Warren for more than seven years.
Dot told us about her experience as a volunteer in Melbourne’s South East and said it was an opportunity to give back to the community.
“We’ve got a bit of everything – pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, noodles, baby food, canned food, jams, Vegemite. Whatever we’ve got, we give out,” she said.
“You get a lot out of it yourself… it’s something really special.”
Transit provides people in need with access to hot meals and groceries, but Dot said there’s another part of the service that is equally important.
“Some of [our guests] actually live on their own and just come here for companionship,” she said.
“Someone came in the other day and said ‘I pick up [groceries] not because I necessarily need it but because I need to get here and talk to people.’
“The atmosphere here is amazing. If you’re here for a while, you’ll see that we’ve got a team of volunteers that come in and give of themselves and at the moment, we’ve just got this lovely, friendly atmosphere.”
Dot said she felt part of a community at Transit and valued the opportunity to connect with people doing it tough.
“A lot of these people you get to know really personally. You sometimes hear the story of their life and you just feel that love for them,” she said.
“Having a mother come in here with her daughter and say to me ‘I’ve given food to my daughter but I haven’t been able to eat for a few days because I’ve just had absolutely nothing,’ that’s not an uncommon story.
“One woman had been moved from place to place and she had absolutely nothing. Just recently, she got a home and it’s just a real blessing to here.
“These are the sort of stories that really mean so much to us.”
Orange Sky operates at Transit in Narre Warren every Monday afternoon. Visit our volunteer page to find out more and register to get involved.
Orange Sky operates at Transit in Narre Warren every Monday afternoon.
Visit our volunteer page to find out more and register to get involved.
Meet George
There’s a lot to love about George.
“I quite look forward to it every week, simply because I know you guys are going to be here. I can rely on you,’’ he said.
“It’s things like this that enable me to do the right thing. I don’t have to worry about trying to get some money together just to wash my clothes. Community is really important, I like to look after the community and the people in it.’’
George has spent the past eight years living on and off the street and said it was the simple things that often had the biggest impact.
“When you’ve been homeless for such a long time, it’s the small things that can give you a little bit more hope,’’ he said.
“I won’t go looking for a job if I stink and my clothes are dirty, but if I’ve got nice clean clothes and I smell nice and someone wants to talk to me about having a look at a job, I’ll definitely be in it.
“So that little sort of scenario can set up other scenarios that will help better my life, and if it betters my life, how many other lives can it better?”
He admitted that while it was easy to become withdrawn from the community, the weekly conversation and banter with Orange Sky volunteers helped him to feel connected.
“I can come down [to shift] and start talking about fishing, camping, whatever and you guys are always a good laugh and join in. You throw your stories in and have a good laugh,” he said.
“It just alleviates a lot of pressure out of people’s lives and that can really help people.”
When George reflects on all of his conversations with volunteers, it was one from his first ever visit to Orange Sky that comes to mind.
“I told her a little bit about where I was from up North and it was quite interesting, we just sat there talking like old friends for a good hour and a half while the washing was getting through. It was great, I really enjoyed it. It was fantastic to see that some people like to share themselves as much as I do.’’
It’s our privilege to be able to wash George’s clothes and offer him a hot shower each and every week, but an even bigger honour to enjoy his conversation and have him as a part of the Orange Sky community.
Interested in joining the team?
Check out our volunteer page to find out more and register to get involved.
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