How To Help The Homeless This Christmas

While most Australians spend Christmas with family or friends, relaxing by the pool, chilling out, or attending a big family reunion, this is not the case for homeless youth. This holiday season, there will be many young people who will be without a place to live. Every night in Australia, 116,427 people are homeless. Of these, 27,680 are young people aged 12 to 24.

Gali Blacher and Maddy Jones, co-founders of social enterprise The Good Box, are doing everything they can to keep our homeless community safe from the elements, fed, and loved during the holiday season. "We create beautifully packaged gift boxes that are purchased online by the general public and then distributed to our homeless community." We currently have 4000 orders from our charity partners for our Good Boxes, which contain lovely items such as a cap, hygiene items, food, and unique gifts such as beautifully scented body wash. "This holiday season, more than ever, help is needed because homelessness does not stop," says The Good Box co-founder Gali Blacher. "We have received numerous phone calls from charities all over Australia seeking assistance for young people in need." Many young people will be separated from their families due to domestic violence or family breakdown, and they, like everyone else, deserve a gift to cheer them up! "Each box contains a personalised note to help instil dignity and brighten the day of someone going through a difficult time," says The Good Box co-founder Madelyn Jones.

The Good Boxes include memorable holiday messaging to remind our youth in need that they are cared for and that someone is thinking about them. Last week, The Good Box received a phone call from a youth charity worker from a small organisation who stated that they would require 400 Good Boxes because they have at least 400 youth to support over the holidays who have nowhere else to go. The Good Box has added 400 boxes to their growing list of orders from charities across Australia, which their incredible volunteers will pack in Brisbane. This is why help is needed now more than ever, as the demand for Good Boxes has more than doubled since last Christmas.

The Good Box provides essential items required to keep our homeless community connected and communicated with, as the homeless community is highly isolated, which only worsens during the holiday season. If The Good Box does not receive additional funding, they will be unable to meet the demand from their charitable partners, which is currently at over 4,000 Good Christmas Boxes. "We are currently inundated with requests to send through Good Boxes for the holiday season, and we simply cannot keep up with the demand." "We need more help from the community to help our friends in need," Blacher says.

You can donate a Good Box for $21.99 or more at www.thegoodbox.com.au, and it will be delivered directly to someone experiencing homelessness in Australia. You can also buy this as a gift in the name of a loved one. The Good Box has over 30 charity partners across Australia, including Orange Sky Australia, MCC Carenet, Bethany, Vinnies, Melbourne City Mission, Mission Australia, Anglicare, etc.

THE PERFECT BOX The Good Box is an Australian social enterprise that creates beautifully packaged gift boxes for homeless people. We're on a mission to dispel myths about homelessness to reduce isolation and increase communication. Give a box to someone you see who is homeless OR choose to distribute it by one of our fantastic charity partners. In either case, you're going to make someone's day. For a complete list of what's inside each box and more information, visit the website.

www.thegoodbox.com.au