Thank you - blanket drive for Missionbeat

Last Thursday our Missionbeat service manager, Dan Petsalis, put out a desperate plea for blankets via his Twitter network.

Within only a few hours Dan’s plea was re-Tweeted by organisations and individuals – reaching thousands of supporters and reported by channel 10 and channel 7 in Sydney reaching thousands more.

Our Missionbeat service has received hundreds blankets with hundreds more en-route to Missionbeat headquarters.

I want to express our deepest thanks to all the people who have collected blankets from their friends, their communities and their colleagues – from large organisations and small. Your contributions make an active and tangible difference to a human life.

These blankets will be distributed to the rough sleepers in the Sydney area whilst the Missionbeat vans are on patrol. We will also respond to the calls for assistance and calls for blankets directly from those clients that will be sleeping on the street, where accommodation wasn’t secured, and we follow-up again the next day.

In the Sydney city area there are about 400 people sleeping rough on any given night. Blankets don't last a person all winter due to issues around keeping them secure, clean and dry.

Cheers and God bless,

Toby Hall
CEO of Mission Australia

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.

Dan Petsalis thanked the public today in a short film. Use the player below to view or visit Mission Australia's Youtube channel.

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

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