Homeless charity’s urgent plea for help

Facing unprecedented demand, soaring costs and a deadline to pack up to 600 Christmas hampers for the needy, The Breakfast Club Redcliffe has issued a plea for help.

Chairperson Michelle Gilchrist posted a video on the charity’s Facebook page calling for more donations of food and funds.

“It’s out of desperation, not just for the hampers but us having trouble with costs ... our meals have doubled since we’ve been here, almost four months now,” Michelle explains.

The charity was serving 700 meals a month, when it was based at Clontarf, but is now serving about 1400 from its new facility at the corner of Portwood St and Oxley Ave, Redcliffe.

That equates to more than 300 meals a week, which does not include the charity’s drop-in service where hundreds of sandwiches are provided to those who are hungry.

“With the increase in numbers and the increase in food costs, and the decrease in donations, we really are beginning to struggle,” she says.

“It is a combination of all that and we know people are doing it tough, so we’re not receiving as much as we would normally over this last 12 months.

“People are tightening up (their spending) but the need is greater than it’s ever been.”

Food donations for Redcliffe Community Care Network’s Christmas hampers are starting to trickle in, but not at the same rate as in previous years.

“We have three days of packing starting next week. We hope to pack 200 boxes which means I pretty much need 200 of all the things on the list,” Michelle says.

Registrations are also being taken for volunteers to pack the hampers. See the Redcliffe Community Care Network Facebook page for details.

Rising costs loom

Michelle says The Breakfast Club Redcliffe is nervously awaiting its first electricity bill for its new facility, due any day and expected to be thousands of dollars.

The organisation is run entirely by volunteers, with funds going to providing meals and support services to the needy.

All donations are tax-deductible.

Redcliffe Community Care Network’s 2025 Community Christmas Appeal

Items to donate for Christmas hampers ...

Non-perishable food

Baked beans/spaghetti

Pancake mix

Jams/spreads

Tinned soup

Custard (1L)

Biscuits/crackers

Cereal (740g)

UHT Milk (1L)

Pasta

Rice

Noodles

Pasta sauce

Tinned fruit

Tinned vegetables

Tuna/Spam/ham

Pasta and sauce pack

Sugar

Jelly

Tea/coffee

Juice/cordial (1L)

Note: no chocolate due to storage issues

Christmas items

Mince pies

Puddings

Cakes

Lollies

Wrapping paper and decorations

Toys

Girls and boys (birth to 16-year-olds)

Suggestions: Lego (eight years and older), DIY and craft kits, board games, puzzles games, outdoor play items.

Deliver items before December 10 to:

The Breakfast Club Redcliffe, corner of Oxley Ave and Portwood St, Redcliffe, on Tuesday and Thursday from 9am-5pm. Phone 0467 811 380.

*Also Sunday November 23 and 30, and December 7 from 2-5pm at 34 Cornelius St, Clontarf.

The Salvation Army, 64 Ashmole Rd, Kippa-Ring, Tuesday to Friday from 9am-noon. Phone 3880 1111.

Redcliffe Uniting Church, 1 Richens St, Redcliffe, Monday to Friday from 9am-4pm. Phone 0417 706 304.

To find out more, visit the Redcliffe Community Care Network Facebook page.

Make a financial donation to The Breakfast Club Redcliffe, BSB 633 000, account number 158906867, tag Redcliffe Community Care Network.