The only thing worse than lockdown in a nice warm house is being stuck outside in the freezing cold with a shortage of resources… Unfortunately, this is the current reality for the homeless community in both Victoria and New South Wales. Homelessness is a huge issue within our country, but thanks the The Good Box, awareness and support is being shown to keep homeless Aussie’s both warm and fed during COVID lockdown.
About The Good Box:
Back in 2018, Gail Blacher and Maddy Jones, founded The Good Box as a way for the community to purchase thoughtful gifts to give directly to someone experiencing homelessness. Now, years later the social enterprise has successfully grown nation wide, throughout the media and through different charity partners from around the country.
The Good Box has also created engagement programs for schools and corporate settings to educate people and help remove the stigma around homelessness. The business helps provide the essential items that are needed to keep the homeless community warm as well as helping them to feel connected and communicated with.
“Our mission is to abolish all of the misconceptions surrounding homelessness, and to prevent isolation and increase communication.”
– The Good Box
About the boxes:
With a total of five different boxes available, customers can choose to either give a box to someone they see experiencing homelessness, or customers can opt for the box to be distributed by one of The Good Box’s wonderful charity partners… Either way you are most certainly going to brighten up someone else’s day.
“We make beautifully packaged gift boxes that are purchased by the public online and then handed to our homeless community. We currently have close on 1000 orders a week from our charity partners who require our winter box which is a box filled with wonderful winter items such as a hoodie, beanies, soup sachet and more. However, support always suffers during lockdown but homelessness doesn’t stop.”
– The Good Box co-founder, Gali Blacher.
There a total of five boxes to choose from including; The Winter Box, The Goodie Box, The Blokes Box, The Gals Box and The Good Pet Box. Each box includes a range of different necessities and goodies for each homeless person to use and enjoy. Just some of the incredible items found inside the boxes are:
- Warm socks, scarves and hand woven beanies
- Fruit cups, muesli bars and baked beans
- Lip balm, toothbrush and tooth paste
- Dog Food, collar and dog treats
- Cosmetics and deodorant
- “Surprise items”- cinema voucher, grocery voucher or a book
Help the homeless during lockdown:
“During lockdown a lot of support services stop and we get non stop phone calls from various organisations and charities for our boxes as they help keep our homeless community warm and remind them they matter! Each box has a personalised note inside the box to help instil dignity and brighten up the day of someone doing it tough.”
– The Good Box co-founder, Madelyn Jones.
The Good Box received a recent morning phone call from a woman who was in lockdown in Melbourne. This woman was trying to find support for a man sleeping rough out on the streets of Mooney Ponds with no warm clothing in the midst of winter. “The lady couldn’t receive any support for this man as it is lockdown, but he was lonely and cold on the streets of Melbourne while everyone else was in their warm house,” says Gali Blacher.
The Good Box, after receiving the woman’s call, connected the man to support services and organised for a Winter Box to be sent his way. This box was sent to help him receive the essentials he needs for the winter season and to help the man receive a good meal. This business truly helps provide essential items to the homeless community, to keep them warm, as well as helping them feel connected and communicated with, as the homeless community is indeed an incredibly isolated one.
If The Good Box doesn’t receive more support, they won’t be able to fulfil the need from their charity partners. “We are inundated with requests right now to send through Winter Boxes and we just can’t keep up with the need. We really need further support from the community to help our friends in need,” says Maddy Jones.
Put a smile on someone’s face today by donating a beautifully packaged gift box for only $21.99, and it will be sent directly to someone experiencing homelessness in Australia. For a full list of what is inside each box and to find out more information visit thegoodbox.com.au
