January Update

We now have proper internet at the new house and are relatively settled in, so can post on a more regular basis. Exciting things are happening for us - new jobs, new year at uni, new milestones for our little boy. 2012 is looking pretty great!

So far this year we have purchased soup, baked beans, sanitary pads and toothbrushes. We are concentrating more on the toiletry items earlier in the year as they have no expiry date and we're not sure yet whether we will make several donations during the year or a big one at the end. Though the big Christmas donation is more exciting due to the volume, the need is year round, so we are probably leaning towards quarterly donations.

We recently received a newsletter from Foodbank about the work that they do. In 17 years they have distributed 25 million kilograms of food to people in need aroud WA. With global and local economic pressures, the demand on their services is only growing. And Foodbank is only one charity that collects and distributes food. There were some interesting financial stats in the newsletter as well - $20 provides food for 40 meals, and $120 will feed a family of four for a month. That really hit home. We spend $120 a week on food and groceries for 3 (and one doesn't really eat too much food!) and we are quite thrifty in what we buy. To think that the money that we spend in one week would feed a family for a month - gets you thinking.

On a different note, I put out a call on the Facebook page - where do you donate old clothes, linen etc too when you have a clean out? We normally leave donations in a Salvo's bin, who I know do amazing work. But I would like to see our donations have a more immediate effect. Someone suggested a local women's shelter so I googled and called one up - speaking to a lady who looks after 5-6 families in my area who have escaped from domestic violence - these are people in need of household goods. They often leave with not much more than the clothes on their backs. So our excess linen, glassware, cutlery, some books, kids and adult clothing is going to them.

An exciting development also - the University of Notre Dame Fremantle medical students will be starting their own One a Week Project collecting goods. This is really inspiring, but also slightly embarassing as I am a med student at the University of Western Australia and haven't got my collegues involved yet. But today, I have put out the UWA call so watch this space for updates on the UWA/ND challenge!