DOZENS of local business people attended an informal breakfast in Port Macquarie on Friday as a thank-you for helping make the 2013 Hope fund-raising masquerade ball the success it was.
Staged in August and attended by more than 190 people, the masquerade ball raised $25,000, which is being put towards the welfare work of the Honour Church, which runs the Hope Shop and Hope Café in Milton Circuit.
Seven balls have been staged to date, raising more than $100,000 in total, supplementing money raised from the op shop and café. Last year, the registered charity spent $52,000 on helping 377 families or individuals in need.
Pastor John Parer, who manages the shop and café with Kate Hutten, said they could not keep their doors open if it were not for the generosity of local businesses.
He said some of the people who came for help were depressed because they had lost jobs or found themselves in a perilous financial situation.
They sometimes added to their issues by locking themselves away because they felt ashamed.
“Coming here gives them hope,” he said.
“Even volunteering is really worthwhile because we have a lot of fun and helping others makes you feel good about yourself.”
Mr Parer urged business owners and their families to keep supporting the welfare work by patronising the op shop and café and buying/donating goods or holding business lunches and meetings at the cafe. The ball would also be staged again next year in August, with a possible Bollywood theme this time.
The Hope Shop stocks a wide range of clothes and furniture, ranging from vintage clothing to everyday household appliances, and is open from 8.30am to 4pm weekdays and 9am to mid-day on Saturday. The Hope Café (across the road) is open from 8.30am until 3pm weekdays and 8.30am to mid-day on Saturday and also has some op-shop goods in a section at the rear.
Donations of clothing and furniture are invited. Staff will pick up furniture of items that are suitable for resale free of charge. If they consider the item unsuitable for the shop, they will help put it outside for council kerb-side collection if required.
For more information, phone 6581 3303.
