Feed Melbourne singles night a recipe for success
Mixing 200 singles with 1.5 tonnes of vegetables, 450 kilos of pastry and 750 kilos of fillings proved a recipe for success, producing 7000 meals to feed hungry and homeless people.
The Feed Melbourne Cooking for a Cause singles night was an event that enabled participants to find love while making a big difference to the hungry and homeless of Melbourne.
It was the largest scale Single Volunteers event to date and was held to help raise $1 million to feed, store and collect food for Victorians who are doing it tough.
Feed Melbourne (www.feedmelbourne.org.au) is an initiative of Leader Community Newspapers, the food charity Fare Share and action group Do Something.
Single Volunteers was created by Melina Schamroth, Founder and CEO of m.a.d.woman in a search for a new boyfriend (which proved successful). Schamroth joined forces with charity Fare Share 18 months ago to run Cooking for a Cause events for singles which are now held weekly.
Last night (Wednesday 2 September) the team of more than 200 heterosexual singles aged 25- 45, heterosexual singles aged over 45 and homosexual singles chopped and chatted their way through:
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600kg potatoes
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600kg sweet potatoes
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300 kg carrots
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450 kg pastry
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350 kg sausage roll mix
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400 kg pie mix
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100 dozen eggs
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4 kg sesame and poppy seeds
FareShare CEO Marcus Godinho said the event far exceeded expectations. "If we did this regularly we would make enough meals so that people didn't go hungry in Melbourne."
Schamroth said the positive feedback had been overwhelming. "People not only had an opportunity to find friendship or love, they all walked away knowing they had made an amazing difference to people who really needed help".
Participant Helen Kaptain said the event was a really fun way to meet other people while contributing to Feed Melbourne.
Fellow participant Glenn McIvor said the event was fantastic. "It achieved spectacular results in feeding the needy and bringing a lot of like-minded people together in having fun".
Etihad Stadium generously donated use of the exclusive Medallion Club and the team from Delaware North Australia created a purpose-built kitchen.
People who missed out on the event can still take part inCooking for a Cause at Fare Share in Melbourne. Tickets available on the m.a.d.woman Events page.
Check out photos from this Single Volunteers Cooking for a Cause at Feed Melbourne.
Gals Doin' Good - Bushfire Support Event
Our latest Gals Doin' Good event was a raging successful, despite the wintery Melbourne evening.
In preparation for the Christmas in July party we're planning for the bushfire-affected community of Traralgon South, we wrapped hundreds of gifts, popped gift tags on them and made many beautiful streamers to decorate the venue.
As usual, the women proved amazingly able to multi-task and we even managed to prepare a few hundreds gifts for an upcoming event in support of people undergoing dialysis.
Tools for Traralgon South
In late May 2009, footy team loyalties were put aside for a day as m.a.d.woman teamed up with the Hawthorn Football Club to collect tools for the bushfire-ravaged community of Traralgon South.
The Traralgon South fires were believed to be started by arson in Churchill. Eleven people lost their lives, 220 people lost homes and hundreds more received fire damage.
We were thrilled receive donations of so many spades, hammers, rakes, brooms and other garden tools, which will make such a difference to the people of Traralgon South as their rebuild their lives.
Bushfire relief - Traralgon South gets Time Out
In February 2009, regional Victoria was devastated by the Black Saturday bushfires. When the Traralgon South community decided to take some Time Out to reconnect, m.a.d.woman joined local supporters to lend a hand.
Traralgon South was badly hit - the fires were believed to have been deliberately lit. Ten lives were lost and many homes were destroyed.
Just weeks later, the sprouting of pink lillies shows signs of life are beginning to return to the bushfire ravaged countryside. Locals are determined to rebuild and were ready to reconnect with their friends and neighbours.
m.a.d.woman put out a call and in just a couple of weeks, collected extremely generous donations from a range of companies and individuals all over Victoria.
Toys, drinks, clothing, games, lolly bags and stationery were just some of the items that filled 1000 goody bags.
Volunteers from all around pitched in to help -from sausage sizzlers to face painters, fairy-flossers to bracelet-makers and there was even a balloonologist!
Celebrities, the Police band and a range of sporting activities entertained the kids and their families.
The 10 community members lost in the fires were remembered with special trees and the reading of a moving poem.
Thank you to everyone who helped put smiles back on the faces of the people of Traralgon South. You showed that by connecting together,we can all make a positive difference!
Bushfire relief - supporting Kids in Kinglake
Two weeks after horrific bushfires hit the Kinglake region, leaving mass devastation in their wake, the community wanted a chance to come together as one.
While the adults wanted a chance to reconnect, grieve their losses and celebrate their lives, they wanted the children of their community to find an opportunity to smile again.
Supporting the great work that Westpac had already been doing in the region, m.a.d.woman put out the call to help create a party atmosphere for several hundred of the community's children.
m.a.d.woman was set up to encourage, inspire and enable people to make a positive difference in the community, environment and to the lives of people who need support. Helping the people of Kinglake provided the perfect opportunity to put this into action.
Within 48 hours of the call, m.a.d.woman received extremely generous donations of gifts for children, home made treats including 200 individually iced cupcakes, hundreds of chocolate crackles, honey joys, biscuits and coconut ice and had a host of special performers ready to amuse the region's youngsters. A jumping castle and fairy floss machine rounded off the mobile amusement unit.
On Saturday morning, the team and all our booty boarded the Westpac Volunteer Bus and began a journey from Whittlesea to Kinglake. Despite having seen extensive media coverage of the fires and their aftermath, nothing could have prepared us for the enormity of the devastation.
After a very sombre journey, the team rallied on arriving at the outdoor venue and joined a small local Westpac team to begin preparing showbags for several hundred children. Donations from the Army and local businesses helped further fill our goody bags, which were crammed full of confectionery, activities and toys.
The line for the jumping castle was at least 30 deep for several hours as little kids and older kids alike got bouncing. More than 500 sticks of fairy floss were twirled and about 1000 goody-bags handed out.
Face painters brought decorations to the faces of youngsters, and smiles to the faces of parents. Members of the m.a.d.woman contingent made personalised bracelets for children, twirled hula hoops, made balloon animals and entertained through various other means.
As the sun began to set, we wound our way back down to Whittlesea leaving the community to a night of hugs, tears, smiles and even some laughter.
There were so many generous individuals and businesses and volunteers who worked tirelessly both before and during the day to bring this special event together, so thanks to them collectively (and individually) for their selfless contributions and for proving that by connecting together, we can make a meaningful difference.
Bicycles for Humanity
Second hand and disused bikes from Melbourne will be helping save lives in Namibia, Africa, thanks to the Bicycles for Humanity project being organised by St Kilda film maker Matt McCollough.
m.a.d.woman helped support this amazing project which will see bicycles distributed to remote HIV/AIDS care workers who typically have to walk huge distances in their work and the shipping container then serves as a prefabricated bike workshop which provides skills training, employment and business opportunities for a community.
Click on this awesome clip which explains the project. For more information visit www.bicyclesforhumanity.com or to donate money, visit http://www.everydayhero.com.au/bicyclesforhumanity
Deeds for Dialysis
Seven hundred people undergoing dialysis will receive special packs from the Royal Melbourne Hospital Dialysis Support Group after a team of Single Volunteers spent a night putting together special packs.
The packs contain items to increase the comfort of people who are dialysis patients awaiting kidney transplants.
Some of these people spend up to four hours at a time, four times a week on dialysis. These packs are designed to make their lives more comfortable while they await their life-saving operations.
Gardening for Good in Melbourne
Single Volunteers planted trees in one of Melbourne's most important sanctuaries as part of the `Habitat Enhancement Program` at Melbourne Wildlife Sanctuary, which aims to re-introduce mammals, bandicoots and dunnarts.
The Sanctuary is already home to wombats, kangaroos and a number of significant bird species that live in the beautiful wetlands and remnant Red Gum grassy woodlands. Our activities included tree planting in Gresswell Forest which adjoins the Sanctuary.
Sex and the City benefits Sex in the Community
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will benefit fr
om sexual and reproductive health packs thanks to Sex and the City fundraising events
More than 350 people turned out for awesome nights out in Sydney and Melbourne to see Sex and the City. m.a.d.woman partnered with Corporate Chicks for the events to fund Telling it Like it Is packs - an initiative of Marie Stopes International Australia.
Events in Melbourne and Sydney have ensured a Midwife on a Motorbike in Timor Leste will have the petrol to keep going for the next nine months!
At the m.a.d.woman Connecting the Community events, vibrant groups of people set about multi-tasking. They learned how to improve their business and personal relationships, met new people AND raised funds for a fabulous initiative - a Midwife on a Motorbike!
Guest speaker for the event was motivational psychologist Eve Ash, a dynamic and inspiring speaker, winner of over 140 awards, including a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year - Westpac Business Owner award, and co-author of Rewrite your Relationships.
Part funds from the event went towards funding a Midwife on a Motorbike in Timor Leste through Marie Stopes International Australia, an organisation committed to providing vital sexual and reproductive health services and education programs to women and their families in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and international communities. Eve is a Patron of MSIA.
A group of Melbourne's singles got dirty (well at least their hands!) in the name of their love lives this weekend - and managed to make a difference at the same time!
In half a day of Gardening for Good the group cleared and planted two large garden beds in a special educational garden for students with intellectual/physical disabilities and/or social disadvantages at CERES Community Garden.
Our Single Volunteers have already cooked more than 5000 meals for some of Melbourne's homeless and hungry.
Cooking for a Cause is one of a series of Single Volunteers events organised by m.a.d.woman. This event supported Melbourne organisation Fare Share.
m.a.d.woman encourages, inspires and enables people to make a positive difference in the environment, community and to the lives of people who need support through campaigns and programs to improve our world.
We already know that every single volunteer can make a difference. We also know that in this day and age it can sometimes be hard to meet like-minded people without going to bars or going online.
With that in mind, m.a.d.woman created the Single Volunteers program and we are planning some exciting new events where every SINGLE volunteer can make a difference, have an opportunity to meet new people - and maybe find something more!
We kicked off our first couple of events by supporting a great Victorian initiative - Fare Share. Our teams cooked a total of more than 5000 meals for Melbourne's hungry and homeless in evening blitzes. The feedback was excellent and like-minded people found new friends as they worked as teams to make a difference.
Fare Share provides free healthy, nutritious meals to hungry and malnourished people in Melbourne. But there's something different about this team of passionate chefs - they make meals using surplus food donated by businesses - food that would have otherwise gone to landfill.
Injury prevention program no Band-Aid solution
A sticking plaster may be the symbol of its latest campaign, but the programs the KIDS Foundation offers are no band-aid solution.
m.a.d.woman was thrilled to join in with Injury Free (IF) Day, a national awareness campaign promoted by the KIDS Foundation. The day was organised by the amazing and dedicated founder of the KIDS Foundation, Susie O'Neill, and her incredible team.
The fundraising campaign, which involved selling yellow IF branded Band-Aids in various sizes, was held over a week in the lead up to the official Injury Free Day, Friday 17 August 2007. In addition, fundraising activities were also held at supporting schools and workplaces across the country.
Piper and Susie catch up with Agro at Australia Zoo on Injury Free Day
A disturbing statistic revealed by the KIDS Foundation shows that on average, 5000 children a day are injured in accidents that require hospital attention. Injury is the most preventable cause of child death in Australia. Tragically, some 300 children aged between one and 14 die from accidental injuries.
Money raised from the campaign's fundraising activities including the sale of the symbolic yellow IF branded band aids, will go towards delivering school and community based safety education programs. These will focus on injury prevention and provide support and recovery programs for children with serious burns and life-changing injuries.
m.a.d.woman was part of the official Injury Free Day launch at Australia Zoo, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Living up to its reputation, the Sunshine Coast delivered a sunny day for the event despite it being held in winter.
Clad in bright yellow IF t-shirts and covered in yellow IF Band-Aids, children, staff and volunteers from the KIDS Foundation arrived at Australia Zoo to awaiting media and celebrities. Radio announcer, Jamie Dunn from Zinc FM, welcomed the group and introduced the children to Agro before the group headed to their star studded breakfast.
Joining the children for the day included former NRL great and co-host of the NRL Footy Show, Paul Harrigon, Surf Ironman legend Guy Leach, AFL Brisbane Lions co-captain Luke Power, former AFL Brisbane Lions player Chris Scott, elite Motorcross rider and Australian Supercross champion Daniel Reardon.
Paul Harrigon and Ryan get up close and personal with
one of the friendly residents at Australia Zoo
After a group breakfast, everybody was taken on a VIP tour of Australia Zoo, which included a special trip to the Animal Hospital where they got to meet and name a koala that had also sustained life-changing injuries. The koala was named TANGO - the name of the personal development and leadership program at the KIDS Foundation.
After the tour, lunch was held in the park at the zoo before the group was escorted to the Animal Planet Crocoseum arena for a show and lesson on Wildlife Warriors 101.
Promoting awareness about the prevention of childhood injury is an important cause and one that m.a.d.woman proudly supports. We love what the KIDS Foundation does and encourage others to get behind this great organisation too.
For more information on the KIDS Foundation and the programs and facilities it has for children with serious burns or life-changing injuries and support for their families and carers, please visit: www.kidsfoundation.org.au
The KIDS Foundation team at Australia Zoo
