Melbourne Online Community COVID Coffee Shout

Due to the Second Wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, so many in our community have experienced financial hardship -- jobs have been lost, businesses closed. While Centrelink schemes like Jobseeker are helping to keep individuals and families afloat, the heartbreaking emotional and psychological toll have already been felt by too many among us, and will continue to cause untold hardship for months, if not years, to come.

We only have to read through social media, for instance the posts and comments in the Facebook Group "Melbourne & Western Suburb Coronaforum" (MWSC) to witness the devastating impact all this has had.

The aim of this fundraiser is for those who are willing and able to give a small token of encouragement (it's like shouting a mate a coffee, or three!) to those doing it tough at the moment.

The donations raised will be used to purchase e-gift cards* worth between $20 and $50 to be sent electronically to confirmed recipients** (this is social distancing giving!)

As someone wise once said: "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

Small acts of kindness add up and even if these small sums of giving won't change lives, we're hoping these small gestures of encouragement and community care will!

For anyone willing and able to donate, any amount will do, whether it's $5, $20, $50 or $100, as the small amounts add up when we pool our donations together.

Please kindly forward this link to any chat groups, Facebook page, or individuals you know who might be willing to help in any way.
 
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* Final e-gift card amount (whether $20 or $50) will be determined when total size of pooled donations becomes clearer

** Recipients will be nominated (or self-nominated) by members of online community groups; once a substantial pool has been collected, the moderator team of MWSC will solicit nominations & finalize list of recipients, maintaining full financial transparency at all times to all named (non-anonymous) donors