Long-standing local charity. West Welcome Wagon. needs the help of the community this winter, to ensure their doors stay open and residents in need get the help they require.
The charity, based in Sunshine, currently supports 630 asylum seeker and refugee households in Melbourne’s west, with essentials such as food, clothing, and bedding, but as grant funding has dried up, the charity is struggling to keep up with the high demand for help.
West Welcome Wagon chief executive Collette McInerney said as the demand from the community grows, and funding runs out, the need for donations is greater than it has ever been.
“We desperately need monetary donations at the moment… to pay the rent, put petrol in the van, and keep us going,” she said.
After a multi-year grant ended in May, West Welcome Wagon has been propped up by some smaller grants from council and philanthropies, but the need is ever increasing.
“It’s made things very difficult for an organisation like ours that provides material aid to have a longer financial forecast,” Ms McInerney said.
‘We are looking to our generous supporters to consider becoming regular monthly donors.”
For people unable to donate in a monetary way, the organisation is always seeking more volunteers to help out in the warehouse and in an administrative capacity.
Further, the highest items of donation priority at the moment are car seats and booster seats, as well as prams, strollers, and adult sized beds and bedding.
Unopened children’s socks and underwear from sizes six and up are also in high demand.
Donate: www.westwelcomewagon.org.au/
Gerald Lynch
