Hello and welcome to the 300 Blankets blog. 300 Blankets will use this forum to update the public on our fundraising progress and share with you our thoughts, feelings, triumph and hurdles as we strive to lead the team to achieving our goals.
As the Melbourne weather begins to embrace the chilling Autumn winds, today also marks one month before our first event. To celebrate the significant milestone, we’ll begin our first blog by summarising where we are, who we are, and where we are going.
How it all started…
In January, good friends Kim and Warren decided that they should challenge themselves and do something to make it a year worth remembering. We believe there is nothing more special than to do something that will help others. As Gandhi said, “Be the change we want to see in the world.” And the first ideas of what is to become 300 Blankets started to develop.
Over the next month, the guys met up several times to develop ideas and plan what we want to do. After having the initial idea in January, and seeing reality of it, they started doing more research. They dove through countless homeless forums, visited emergency shelters and spoke to various people involved with supporting and helping homeless people to gain more insight. Everyone they met, were excited about the ideas. The name 300 Blankets refers back to a conversation with a leader of a soup van. He explained that on any particular night, they expect to serve from 50 to 300 individuals. Based on that figure, we formed our initial goal of 300. Blankets were chosen as the product to focus on as unanimously, all of the people contacted agreed that after food and drinks, blankets are the most needed item during winter.
February
In late February, friends and family were approached on Facebook with our ideas and invited people to help us achieve our goals. We received an amazing response and there was no turning back from here. The management team was quickly formed and 300 Blankets became official.
March
Over the month of March, the team revisited homeless shelters to gain more insight to the community and to seek more advice about the direction of our project. The management team have since formed distinct roles and responsibilities and have started working tirelessly in their unique function of the project.
April
Here’s where we are so far.
300 BLANKETS
OUR MISSION
On any given night, thousands of Melbournians are living on the streets with limited food and shelter. Aside from food and water, protection from the elements is the most basic requirement for survival. 300 Blankets aims to raise funds to provide blankets throughout winter to people living rough. Through fundraising activities, we also aim to highlight and educate everyday Australians on the reality of homelessness.
EVENT 1. LIVE MUSIC NIGHT
Date: Saturday 12th May
Venue: Fabrique – 272 City Road, Southbank
Time: 5:30pm – 9:30pm.
Tickets:
$10 (+BF) pre-purchase
$15 at the door
At the Live Music Night, we will be inviting bands, singers, entertainers to fill the halls of Fabrique with live sounds from bands and soloists. This will be a night for people from various walks of life to network, make new friendships, mingle while enjoying live music. We will also be selling artwork and jewelry created by friends and family on day night. A sausage sizzle will be running throughout the event. Event 1 is going to kick start the 300 Blankets projects in an amazing fashion. Make sure you invite all your friends and family to this event.
EVENT 2. TRIVIA NIGHT
Date: Saturday 2nd June
Venue: Sofias – 857 Burke Road, Camberwell
Arrive: 6pm for a 6:30pm sharp start – 9:30 finish
Tickets: $25 Per Person (includes unlimited pizza/pasta)
This will be a night of fun and games where teams of up to 10 are pitted against everyone else testing trivial knowledge and various skills. We will also be holding a silent auction this night to continue to raise funds for 300 Blankets. Make sure you invite your friends, work colleagues and family to this event.