Three Ballarat cafés get smart in the fight against homelessness
Three Ballarat cafés are participating in this week’s CafeSmart initiative. Each participating café encourages customers to donate to the not-for-profit organisation which is raising money to support their local homeless charities and services.
Co-owner of Webster's Market and Café, Jane Meneses Lopez says the rising living costs is one reason why she is supporting the initiative.
“You're conscious it's not even necessarily homelessness, but a wider struggle, the day-to-day struggle of affordability,” Ms Meneses Lopez says.
“Even if you do have a roof over your head, some people struggle to buy clothes for the kids, or a car or even a car seat, or whatever it might be.”
Webster's has been involved with CafeSmart for the past seven years.
This year they are joined by local cafés Cobb's Coffee and Maggie and Kate.
Ms Meneses Lopez would love to see more cafés join in.
Over $1.6 million has been raised and distributed for over a thousand local projects in the past 11 years.
Customers who would like to be involved in the fight against homelessness, can find their local participating café via the CafeSmart interactive map or they can donate the cost of a coffee online.
For more information visit: https://streetsmartaustralia.org/cafesmart/
Irit Jackson, 3rd August 2022
