sallyhammond.com.au

STREET SMARTS

Here’s something I plan to support this summer. StreetSmart Australia works towards raising money for the homeless through smaller, local, grass-roots organizations. During the next six weeks of the festive season, from now until Christmas Eve they have made it so easy.

All we have to do is add a $2 donation to the bill at participating StreetSmart restaurants. The good news is that 100 percent of the money raised goes to directly helping the homeless through smaller, local, grass-roots organisations that often don't receive big sponsorship dollars or extra funding.

Let’s try to ensure that StreetSmart's "dine out to help out" 2007 campaign will bring in even more than it did in 2006 when diners in more than 147 restaurants donated a fantastic total of $115,000.

It's difficult for many of us to imagine the harsh reality of living on thestreets - yet the fact is that every night an astounding 100,000+ Australians find themselves homeless. Many of these are children, with 60,000 accessing homeless services each year. Few realise that 45 percent of homeless people are aged under 25 and 50 percent are women, mostly with young children.

StreetSmart grants support a diverse range of projects and services. As well as food and shelter, the grants have helped to provide funding for projects such as street choirs and arts and sports programs.  It is initiatives like these that assist disadvantaged people to reconnect with their community and, with new-found support and confidence, potentially build the self-esteem and networks that might help them step out of the vicious cycle of homelessness.

Now in its second year running in New South Wales, over 45 top-nosh Sydney restaurants will compete to raise the most money for StreetSmart during this festive season. Brisbane and Melbourne are also involved but it’s not only capital cities. Regional restaurants of all sizes are involved and a full list can be found on www.streetsmartaustralia.org

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