Not-for-profit organisation Big Group Hug is calling for people to donate preloved winter clothes for its Coats4Kids Campaign, which will run until July 31.
Big Group Hug provides pre-loved material aid to families in need, and is teaming up with fellow not-for-profit Off Your Back, with the aim to collect 5000 pre-loved coats for children and adults.
All adult coats will be passed on to Off Your Back, while all children’s coats, for those aged two to 16 years, will be distributed via Big Group Hug to Victorian children in need.
Big Group Hug chief executive Bernadene Voss said she got shivers imagining a freezing winter day with nothing to keep warm.
Ms Voss said people could help make a difference by supporting the Coats4Kids campaign and donating their pre-loved coats.
“It is critical that families facing hardship have warm coats to give their children,” she said.
“We know that more than one in six Australian children are living in poverty, and over and above this statistic, there are many children without appropriate clothes for the Melbourne winter.
“We are very happy to be collaborating with Off Your Back, who have been collecting adult coats for many years and expanding this to include children.”
Off Your Back founder Toni Joel echod the sentiments.
“Over the past 20 years, Off Your Back has managed to collect and distribute over 150,000 coats to those in need without spending one cent,” she said.
“We are thrilled to partner with Big Group Hug so we can keep more children warm this winter.”
Big Group Hug is a volunteer-driven organisation based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, but services a wider range of Victorians year-on-year.
The group is made up of individuals with a strong belief that all children deserve the best start in life and that communities have the ability and a desire to give less fortunate families practical support in their time of need.
It also prides itself on being independent and resourceful with a unique ability to coordinate and mobilise a community response to the immediate and specific material assistance requests of vulnerable children and disadvantaged families that cannot be fulfilled by existing social service providers.
Big Group Hug is also focused on helping the circular economy and building a sustainable future by encouraging the upcycling, recycling and rehoming of pre-loved items to reduce landfill and the environmental damage caused by waste.
