Make a difference to your community… and tax return

With the end of the financial year days away, many Australians are starting to think about the best way to maximise their yearly tax return.

By far one of the best ways to receive a tax deduction is by opening your heart and wallets to others and making a charitable donation.

Any donation you make over $2 to a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) such as Mission Australia is tax-deductible – and even a small gift can make a huge difference to someone like Sheree*.

Sheree had been beaten continuously by her husband for the past five years. One night he hit her so hard that she blacked out for a few minutes. But it wasn’t until her children were hospitalised due to his beatings that Sheree realised she had to get away from her husband for good for the sake of her young family.

While he slept one night, Sheree quietly put the children in the back of the car and fled to the care of Mission Australia.

Unfortunately, Sheree’s situation is all too common – she and her girls make up just one of many families we work with every day at Mission Australia. Your generous donation today will help hundreds of Australian women and children in similar desperate situations to find pathways away from poverty, violence and homelessness.

We urgently need your help to provide families like Sheree’s with a roof over their heads and the support they need to start a new life.

Donate before 30 June and your kind gift can also be claimed as a tax deduction this year.

*Names and images have been changed to protect the identities of our clients.

Help Sydney’s homeless – donate a blanket today

For the thousands of Australians who are homeless, winter is an unbearable time, and something as simple as seasonal change can have devastating affects on homeless people's health.

Last night the temperature in Sydney fell below eight degrees – it is unimaginable to have to be without a home in the cold and have no way to keep warm.

Due to this cold snap in Sydney, Missionbeat has depleted its supply of blankets and we are asking for your urgent help to donate clean and useable blankets in the next 48hours.

To donate a blanket, please contact Missionbeat directly on 1800 306 461 or drop off your blanket directly to the Missionbeat office located at Unit 1/1 Brompton Street, Marrickville NSW 2204.

Missionbeat patrols inner Sydney streets seeking out those in distress and offering them support. The iconic vans transport homeless men, women, children, families and intoxicated or drug affected men and women to services to meet their immediate needs, including safe accommodation, medical care or food and clothing.

To make a blanket donation or find out more about how you can help, please contact Missionbeat on 1800 306 461. Your simple gesture could save someone’s life.

Read more about Mission Australia’s homeless services, and follow Daniel Petsalis, Missionbeat's Service Manager on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DanMISSIONBEAT

Transform a young life today

Many thanks to everyone who has made a donation to Mission Australia’s Youth Appeal 2011, especially given the tough start to the year experienced by so many Australians.

Such community generosity helps us to continue to run our life-changing programs to support young Australians to overcome very real problems such as substance addiction, family breakdown and abuse.

There is still time to donate
We urgently need more donations to help young people in crisis this year. Your donation will give a young Australian not only the professional support to transform their life, but the courage and self-belief to overcome the challenges they face in the future. This could include a series of one-on-one counselling sessions to help them overcome personal tragedy, abuse or mental illness, or a placement in a youth rehabilitation program.

For more information visit missionaustralia.com.au/youth-appeal

Donate today
$30 can help cover the phone calls of one young person during their stay at a youth rehabilitation program, enabling them to stay in touch with family and loved ones
$60 can help fund one session with a qualified counsellor for a young person overcoming personal tragedy, abuse, or mental health issues
$90 can help fund one young person into a youth rehabilitation program for a night

With your help we can continue to offer our life-changing services to Australians in need.

*Name and image have been changed to protect the identity of our client.

Great news for Families and Children services as HART Sport pledge over $30,000 in donations

Mission Australia has teamed up with HART Sport to raise over $30,000 for Mission Australia's Families and Children services.

For each order in September HART Sport will make a donation to Mission Australia, pledging to donate a minimum of $30,000.

"This is a huge first for HART Sport. It will be our first charity donation to directly fund programs that make a difference in communities across Australia." said Greg Harten, Managing Director for HART Sport.

"The idea comes after feedback from our staff. Hopefully with the support of our customers we can raise more than $30,000."

HART Sport would like to help the 110 Mission Australia family services that were able to transform the lives of 28,451 individuals and 7,749 families through the provision of 50,228 service incidences.

So if you're in the market for some sporting gear, you can support MA services at the same time.  Check out www.hartsport.com.au for more information.

What is your 'New Year's resolution'?

The 2010 New Year Appeal asks the public to think about their New Year’s resolutions. The appeal challenges people to consider adding a worthwhile cause to their list, such as 'helping a homeless person to transform their life in 2010'.

With over 100,000 Australians without a place to call home tonight, the scale of the homelessness problem remains high despite the efforts of government and not-for-profits like Mission Australia.

Daniel Petsalis, manager of Sydney's Missionbeat service, noted recently that the number of homeless people sleeping rough in Sydney is on the rise: "The City of Sydney’s most recent count found numbers had increased by almost 13 per cent between 2008 and 2009 – from 354 to 399," said Daniel.

If you are interested in helping a homeless person this year, donations to the New Year Appeal will help support Mission Australia services like Missionbeat or Mission Australia Centre.

You can help by making a one-off donation, or choosing to donate through our regular giving program.  Alternatively you might like to consider other ways you can contribute - click here to learn more.

---

Please email Emmanueld@missionaustralia.com.au for questions about the 2010 New Year Appeal

---

Perth's Christmas Lunch in the Park is all wrapped up with the help of local celebrities

Mission Australia - along with the help of over 400 volunteers - will deliver our 34th annual Christmas Lunch in the Park event again this year for those in our community seeking companionship and a place to celebrate the festive season.  Each guest will receive a traditional Christmas lunch, a gift from Santa, entertainment and great company!

In support of the event, a group of Perth celebrities and media representatives gave up their time to take part in a huge 'Christmas present-wrapping drive'. The gifts - all donated by generous West Australian individuals and businesses - will be distributed to children attending the Christmas Lunch in the Park event.

One of Perth's best known voices, ABC Radio presenter Bernadette Young, also took part in the wrapping event. You can read Bernadette's blog and see photos here:  blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2009/12/its-a-wrap.html?program=720_afternoons.

Perth Now also covered the 'present-wrapping drive' and have added a video to their website:  player.video.news.com.au/perthnow/#1354986774

Event details:
Where:  Wellington Square Park, East Perth
When:  Friday, 25 December 2009
Time:  11.30am to 2pm
Cost:  Free!
RSVP:  None required, just turn up on the day!

For more information or donations visit www.missionpromotion.com/clip

Mission Australia thanks the community for their generosity this winter

Australia's coldest, darkest season was made a little warmer this year for many of our homeless clients, thanks to some wonderful organisations and their very generous employees.

During the winter season of 2009, Mission Australia received collections of basics including blankets, grocery items and toiletries to distribute to some of our most marginalised members of society; for these items we owe a resounding and heart-felt THANK YOU!

Something as elementary as seasonal change can pose devastating affects on homeless people's health, especially those that endure rough-sleeping. With many Mission Australia clients surviving without any other support network, these recent donations have been highly sort-after and appreciated.

Below are the very generous organisations involved in this year's Winter Appeal - many thanks to all involved:

• AMP Foundation
• Bayer
• Davis Langdon
• Deutsche Bank
• Hamilton James & Bruce
• Macquarie Bank
• Optus

Without the generous support of the community, Mission Australia wouldnt be able to help so many homeless clients each winter. Last year alone Mission Australia assisted 32,211* homeless pepople to help them transform their lives.

Click here to learn more about Mission Australia Homelessness Services.

*Mission Australia Annual Report 2007-08

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

OK. Agora fiquei mesmo impressionado.

Ver noticia no washington post.
Via Politica 2008.

Depois do 5 de Novembro...

... vem o 16 de Dezembro!

On December 16th, 1773, American colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor to protest an oppressive tax. This December 16th, American citizens will dump millions of dollars into the Ron Paul presidential campaign to protest the oppressive and unconstitutional inflation tax (which has enabled a flawed foreign policy, a costly war and the sacrificing of our liberties here at home).

Ron Paul sobre a money bomb de dia 5

5th of November - R for Revolution